Mienfoo and the Golden Fruit
by NotSoEpic
Summary: Every ten years, in a world without humans and ruled by Pokémon, a great tournament is held in the Land of Uryus where countless young Pokémon compete for the right to be given the mystical Golden Fruit. A young Mienfoo and his friends are determined to make it through this tournament, facing difficult challenges and foes along the way.
1. Chapter 1: The Queen's Tournament

**A/N: My first story in a while. I've had this on my mind and rough drafts for the first few chapters finished for some time, but finally decided to try and get it polished up and posted. Hopefully you all will enjoy it.**

* * *

_At the heart of the Land of Uryus, there is a great tree, the Sacred Oak, which produces a single golden fruit once every ten years. The Golden Fruit's taste was so irresistibly sweet and magnificent that the land's Pokémon fought viciously over it for many centuries. Determined to end this dark era, Queen Meloetta ruled that a tournament would be held every time the Golden Fruit grew to determine the Pokémon that would receive it- however, only children would be eligible. In the centuries since, young Pokémon across the land would flock to the great tree whenever the tournament is held, eager to both prove their worth and win the world's most delicious fruit for themselves._

After ten long years, the Sacred Oak - a giant tree standing at well over a hundred meters in the center of a massive grassy countryside - began to bloom brilliantly once again, showering the Royal City built around it in a beautiful rain of pink flower blossoms. It was at this time that thousands of Pokémon from all over Uryus (and even some from foreign lands) traveled to the area. The reason for this trip was not only to see the blossoms fall, but to enter their children into the Queen's Tournament, where they would have the chance to win the single Golden Fruit that the tree produced at this time.

Mienfoo stared up at the great, flower-covered city in awe as his yellow and pink fur rustled elegantly in the breeze. Thousands of flower petals danced gracefully in the wind above the city before eventually coming down to blanket it in a beautiful pink snow. Though his mother had described it to him many times when he was an infant, he now realized that those stories could not possibly prepare him for seeing the city during the Sacred Oak's blooming period with his own two eyes. The sight alone was so peaceful that he partially wished to be able to simply stand there, gazing at it for hours on end– but he knew deep down that there was still a far more important matter that he wished to attend to. After watching this spectacle for several minutes, Mienfoo slung his light traveling bag over his shoulder and continued on into the city, slowly sifting through the busy streets and periodically stopping to ask for directions until reaching the nearest inn- a large and fancy wooden building sitting at the side of a wide street and almost completely covered with pink petals. He would stay there until the tournament began and accommodations have been set up for its participants.

Eagerly, he walked up to the front desk to rent a room with the little currency he had brought with him. Because he was alone, as his mother had been unable to leave their hometown, and because the inn was packed with numerous tourists, he agreed to share his room with two other young Pokémon that were also travelling alone. Making his way up to the fourth floor, he found his room and entered. "Anyone here?" he called out as he set down his bag. Turning his head, he noticed an odd-looking, yellow, bipedal lizard-like creature with enormous eyes and an unusual frown standing still in the dark room's nearest corner.

"Wassup?" the Scraggy shouted loudly and briefly when he had noticed him, giving him an odd stare.

Mienfoo stepped back in shock when he heard this before regaining confidence and reentering the room. "N… not much," he answered hesitantly, "I'm guessing that you're my roommate. Are you entering the Queen's Tournament too?" Thinking back, he did remember the inn's clerk warning him that one of his roommates was mentally unsound- hence why the rent was so cheap -though, unlike most other potential customers, he hadn't been too concerned over the matter.

The Scraggy stared at him for several moments, before opening his mouth wide in reply– rubbing his stomach as he answered. "Golden Fruit, yum yum!"

Mienfoo chuckled awkwardly as he moved further into the room towards what appeared to be the nearest empty bed. After a few moments, to his relief, the room's door opened and a figure entered to interrupt this odd meeting. "Don't bother with Scraggy, there," the metal figure, a red and black Pawniard with sharpened blades for hands and cold, piercing eyes, spoke in an uncaring, straightforward tone. "He's a little messed up in the head."

"SCRAGGY!" the lizard Pokémon shouted its own name as it watched its other roommate walk past him.

"Just ignore him and he'll go away," the Pawniard continued, shifting its gaze from Mienfoo to the other side of the dark room where a small, neatly made bed could be seen in the corner next to the window.

"Ah, I see," Mienfoo replied, giving Scraggy a cautious glance. After a moment, he began to walk up to the Pawniard. "I am Mienfoo Gregorein, your new roommate," he continued, politely bowing his head a little. Though given names were rarely, if ever, used unless distinguishing between two Pokémon of the same species, Mienfoo felt that it was important to make a good first impression.

"I figured that much," the knife Pokémon replied without looking back, beginning to walk towards the empty bed he had been looking on the other side of the room. "Call me Pawniard."

Mienfoo watched Pawniard give him the cold shoulder as he moved past him. Not wanting to end the conversation, he stuttered a little before continuing. "I came here to enter the Queen's Tournament, so-"

"You and everyone else," Pawniard interrupted. "This tournament gets well over five thousand participants from around Uryus every time it occurs, even foreigners sometimes come all the way here just to participate." Arriving at his bed, Pawniard reached under it and retrieved a shoulder bag. "I was just about to head to the Royal Palace to sign up for it myself." Silently, he returned to the door and opened it before turning back to face his new roommate with a sigh. "You can come too, I suppose," he said in what seemed to be a slightly more welcoming tone, though his kindness still left much to be desired.

Regardless, the easy-going Mienfoo immediately smiled and jogged after him- but stopped upon reaching the door. Turning back, he noticed Scraggy still standing in place, looking at him with a disappointed frown. "You coming?" he asked the lizard kindly, who instantly grinned and rushed after them. Pawniard groaned irritably.

After weaving through the crowded, pink-blanketed streets, the three young Pokémon finally arrived at the Royal Palace- a massive stone castle built right at the Sacred Oak's base and beautifully covered in a thin layer of fallen pink blossoms. Unfortunately, an incredibly long entry line extended out of its entrance, through the gardens in front and into the streets bordering it, forcing the three to wait in it for what would clearly be several hours. It didn't take long for boredom to tear at their patience.

"I hear that the Golden Fruit that was picked last week is on display inside," Pawniard eventually said in a dry, tired tone after a long silence, prompting Scraggy to shout 'GOLDEN FRUIT!' repeatedly for several minutes. The Knife Pokémon turned to give Mienfoo a discontented gaze for inviting the annoyance.

Ignoring Scraggy's inherent babble and Pawniard's irritation, Mienfoo responded cheerfully, "I've always wondered what it tastes like, the most delicious fruit in the world. I'd give anything to just have a bite. You too, am I right?"

Pawniard stood in thought for a moment, briefly shifting his focus away from Scraggy. "If I do end up winning the fruit, I'd probably sell it," he replied in a somewhat rude, matter-of-fact way. "It's worth a fortune, you know." Mienfoo nodded in agreement, though he could never imagine selling such a mythically wondrous thing.

Finally, after hours of waiting, the group was admitted into the palace's expertly white marble-carved foyer- where they were quickly directed into yet another line for the tournament signup desk. As the second line took them from room to room, Mienfoo enjoyed the palace's splendorous displays ranging from exotic paintings of the Queen and her knights to ancient statues. At last, it brought them to a large, circular room where the melon-sized, apple-shaped Golden Fruit was on display inside a large tank of reinforced glass guarded by a dozen tough looking, red and grey, iron-coated Escavalier with intimidating pointed lances in place of arms. Even through the tank's thick, reinforced glass, Mienfoo's sharp nose could still pick up the fruit's intoxicating aroma, which coupled perfectly with its seductive golden glow- enough to make him drool in eagerness. It was so tempting, in fact, that it took him a great deal of willpower to keep from rushing towards it. Unfortunately, there were some with less self control than him.

"GOLDEN FRUIT!" Scraggy yelled, splattering drool on the ground as he ran forward towards the display. Mienfoo and Pawniard both attempted to hold him back by forcing their arms around his, but found the lizard Pokémon to be quite a bit stronger than they expected.

"Get a hold of yourself," Pawniard scolded him as they barely managed to keep him inside the line with great difficulty, although Scraggy did not seem to be listening. "You don't see anyone else acting like this."

These words were spoken too soon, however. Ahead of them, at another section of the line, what could only be described as a small, less 1' high, red and yellow furball with four stubby limbs burst out towards the tank, and the Escavalier guards quickly mobilized side by side into a wall of iron to block its path.

"Return to the line, child," the centermost guard spoke in a commanding tone. "Only the victor of th-"

The guard was interrupted by a ball of crackling orange flames that suddenly shot out of the ball of fur's mouth and expanded to massive size. "Darumaka!" it cried as it leapt through the spreading flames towards the intoxicating fruit, only for a guard to jump in its way and unleash a deafening screech of sound from the small mouth beneath its helmet, displacing the air before it powerfully enough to make the furball fall back towards to the stone floor with a distinct thud. As several more Escavalier approached, it stood and rushed backwards while covering its pounding ears with its paws. "Mama!"

A red, apish Pokémon with eyebrows composed entirely of raging fire extended its arms to embrace her child protectively. "I'm sorry for Darumaka's behavior," she apologized as the furball cowered behind her, "she's just a little excited, that's all."

The lead guard nodded. "It is understandable," he replied, "however I must inform you that signing up such a young child into the Queen's Tournament, though not strictly against the rules, is not recommended for their safety. I advise you not to enter." Darumaka whimpered at these words.

Darmanitan looked sadly at her child before shaking her head. "I understand." Slowly she led Darumaka out of the line and began to cross the room towards the nearest exit. The faces of the many others standing in line watched them walk with blank stares.

"Hold it!" a young voice called out from some distance behind Mienfoo's group. The voice belonged to a short, bipedal, brownish-gray Pokémon with bulging pink veins across its body and a small piece of timber hanging over its shoulder. "If she wants to enter this tournament to win the fruit, then what right do you have to stop her?" the speaker, a young Timburr, asked loudly with a courageous grin spread across his face. "Even if she's a little young, she is still eligible, right? Don't just step all over someone's dreams like that! I'll protect her!"

Darumaka smiled in glee and ran towards the Timburr as the adult Pokémon gave him surprised stares. "Calm down, kid," he said in a lowered voice as she hugged his leg tightly, though he could not hide a soft chuckle.

As this matter resolved itself, with the guards and the mother agreeing to leave Darumaka in the Timburr's care, Pawniard sighed. "That was irritating," he said. "Sending Pokémon that can't take care of themselves into a tournament like this is a stupid idea. They'll only get hurt."

"I don't know," Mienfoo replied thoughtfully, extending his arm to grab Scraggy's as he attempted to make another run for the fruit, "that guy seems really nice." After a little arguing, Pawniard agreed to let a few others skip ahead of them in line until they were next to the Timburr, Darumaka, and Darumaka's mother.

"Hey there," Mienfoo greeted the Timburr with a smile, extending his arm in greeting, "I'm Mienfoo."

"Timburr," the Pokémon replied with a grin as they firmly shook hands. After exchanging introductions and laughing a little, the two groups – as Mienfoo had hoped – quickly bonded into one. Though there was still a ways to go until the line's end, their cheerful new friends ensured that it was not nearly as boring as it had been before.

After another half hour or so longer in line, the group finally made it to a desk at the end, where the clerk had them fill out the documents necessary for entry into the tournament. With that done, Darmanitan entrusted her daughter to the other children, who were allowed to wander the parts of the palace open to the public on their own for another forty minutes. They all agreed to avoid the room containing the Fruit because of Darumaka and Scraggy, but had trouble deciding where else they should go.

"Why don't we go see the Queen's throne room?" Mienfoo suggested as they moved through the crowded white stone foyer. "We might even get to meet her!"

"Queen Meloetta will be speaking before the participants when the tournament begins tomorrow morning," Pawniard replied without looking back at him or truly answering his suggestion. "If we make it far enough, we'll probably even get to meet her in person then. Honestly, staying here is a waste of time when we could be preparing ourselves."

"Don't be such a bummer," Timburr replied with a friendly push to the knife Pokémon's shoulder as the tiny Darumaka shouted happily in agreement while sitting on the wooden block resting on his shoulder.

Pawniard turned his head irritably and did not attempt to continue his argument. It didn't take them all long to agree to go explore the throne room.

As they moved through a crowded hallway towards it, Mienfoo found himself lagging behind the group a little after stopping to inspect an interesting old portrait of the blooming Sacred Oak on the wall. Before he could hurry to catch up, however, an off-limits door opened a couple meters before him and two dark figures emerged from it. One of them he recognized as an Accelgor by its green-striped pink helmet, dark bluish cloak, and piercing eyes. The other however, was a kind of Pokémon he was not familiar with. Its eyes were twice as piercing, had leathery black skin, fang-like teeth, razor-sharp claws, and bright red feathers lining its head like a crown. A single glance from the strange Pokémon's cold stare as it noticed him was enough to make him freeze up in a crippling fear. The two then continued on, ignoring the youngster.

With those two gone, Mienfoo was soon able to move again and he stared down the bustling hallway they had left in, realizing that he had been the only one to take notice. He knew that the strange Pokémon was not native to Uryus and could not help but wonder what a foreigner was doing in an off-limits area of the palace. Shaking his head, he decided that it was none of his business and rushed off to catch up with the others.

Soon after, the group entered the uncomfortably packed throne room, but they were unable to even see the queen who wasn't in there at the time. After some time, they eventually finished their tour and walked back to the entrance disappointedly, exiting into the pink flower-covered gardens surrounding the front of the castle. It didn't take long for them to quickly discover that something was awry. Up ahead, a young, bipedal crocodile-like Pokémon with shady-looking black marks across its tough brown skin, a Krokorok, seemed to be rampaging around and holding up the line to enter the palace.

"You're gonna enter the Tournament with that level of skill?" he shouted aloud mockingly as he bullied a young Lillipup. "Don't make me laugh!" Raising his leg, the Krokorok brought it down to create a fierce shockwave powerful enough to send the small, furry hound flying backwards into a wooden fence- whipping up a few hundred pink blossoms in the process. Then, it twisted around and jumped in the air before crashing back down to create a miniature earthquake that knocked down everyone near him in the line with a brief tremble. "Listen up everybody!" he shouted loudly and arrogantly to the fallen groups. "Only the strong stand a chance at winning the fruit, and all you weaklings out there will just get in our way! Save yourselves the humiliation of utter defeat and get outta here before you get a taste of what real pain feels like!" The Krokorok began to laugh as he continued stomping the ground and injuring those waiting in line with even more shockwaves. Many were taking his advice and began to turn their backs on the castle and leave.

"Stop that!" Mienfoo called out angrily, moving towards him as he saw the crocodile's actions. Timburr and Pawniard also stepped forward to confront him as Scraggy and Darumaka hung behind to watch.

"Got a problem?" The Krokorok asked with a menacing grin of its long snout that showed off a mouthful of sharp fangs and moved towards the group in wide steps that made the ground shake beneath his feet. Though the crocodile didn't seem to be that much older, it still towered over all of them by nearly a foot. As it neared them, its smile soon degraded into a vicious, bloodthirsty scowl.

"Yeah," Timburr replied with a determined look in his eyes, unbothered by the Pokémon's intimidating, muscular physique, "you'd better shut that jaw of yours before I smash it shut!"

The crocodile snorted in laughter before thrusting his head forward and opening his large jaw to unleash a sudden blast of tightly-packed sand from its throat that shot out to strike the speaker and then explode outwards to knock the whole group off their feet- save for one.

The moment this occurred, Pawniard dodged by leaping forward into the air, using the force of the small explosion to launch himself further before coming to the ground to begin rolling towards the enemy and then standing up to rush forward, slashing mercilessly at the flesh of Krokorok's soft, pink-tinted gut.

"Not bad," the enemy spoke as he stepped backwards and swung his tail into Pawniard's side to knock him down, rubbing the cut on his belly irritably. He was just about to deliver another, more powerful blow with his claw when Mienfoo and Timburr came at him with a blinding barrage of flying fists and claws. After exchanging a few blows, the three-allied Pokémon had surrounded Krokorok, who laughed before opening his mouth to spit out a stream of sand- which quickly began to blow around him in a fast circle to form a sandstorm-like shield of sorts, picking up hundreds of nearby flower petals as it spun. In an instant, the blowing sand burst outwards to blind the three and knock them down long enough for Krokorok to retreat backwards a little. From there, he opened his mouth even wider than before and a massive ball of rapidly swirling sand which quickly grew larger and larger began to form- obviously powerful enough to make them all realize that being struck by it would be dangerous. An instant before the brutal attack was unleashed, however, a mighty bolt of blinding white electricity shot past the group to land right before the crocodile with a flashy explosion, causing him to lose focus and misfire to his side. As the smoke and dust of Krokorok's failed attack cleared, the group saw that the thunderbolt had come from a tiny, barely 10 inches tall and 8 inches long, bright yellow mite-like Pokémon with four solid blue eyes standing behind them- a Joltik.

"I'd get out of here right about now if I were you," the Joltik spoke to the desert crocodile in a calm, but confident and threatening tone. "Or you might end up with a little more than you bargained for, punk."

The gator stared at the new arrival for a moment before looking back at the other three and then to a group of Escavalier guards quickly approaching from the palace entrance. He grimaced. "I guess you all pass," he replied grudgingly as he stepped backwards. "We'll meet again in the tournament- and this won't end so easily next time around." With that said, Krokorok spit out another ball of sand at his feet and promptly disappeared in the resulting dustcloud.

"Nice one," Mienfoo said, greeting the electric mite after checking to make sure that they were all alright. Meanwhile, Pawniard quickly began to look around for any signs of the gator as Timburr stumbled around in a fit with Darumaka and Scraggy at having been unable to stop the crocodile properly. At around the same time, the Escavalier palace guards arrived to ensure that the situation had calmed down.

"Yeah well, I just couldn't stand by and let that guy do stuff like that, you know," the Joltik responded, staring up at the mustelid with a laugh. "The fact that there are actually contestants who act that way makes me sick." Mienfoo smiled and nodded in agreement.

After exchanging introductions, Joltik – who had also recently signed up for the tournament – agreed to join them as they all went to spend the rest of the day exploring the city and preparing for the tournament together.

When evening had come, the group of friends had all stopped at a local food stall set up on the side of a less-crowded street for dinner. "You know, we should all team up for the tournament when it starts tomorrow," Joltik said as he finished his meal from a plate on the ground, being too small to reach the wooden counter properly. "That way we can easily give that gator what's coming to him and pass any challenge the planners throw at us."

"Team up? Can we do that?" Mienfoo asked curiously. Since arriving, he had heard surprisingly little about how the tournament would play out. He assumed that the Pokémon in charge of it had been keeping it a secret on purpose.

"There's nothing in the rules against it," Pawniard answered, brushing some splattered soup off himself as Scraggy rapidly and messily consumed bowl after bowl without end next to him, splashing it everywhere. "They'll have to get rid of a lot of contestants in the beginning somehow, so there will probably be some sort of free-for-all to determine who goes on. If there is, we definitely won't be the only team out there."

"Still, if we do meet up with that Krokorok," Timburr added, clutching his hands into fists as Darumaka sat next to him, "he's all mine, got it? There's something off about that guy!" Darumaka cried out in agreement.

Mienfoo smiled proudly to himself, glad at having already made so many new friends. There weren't many others his age in his hometown and, before reaching the city, he had secretly been somewhat worried about entering the tournament without anyone to share the experience with. It was good to know that this wouldn't be an issue.

For the rest of the evening, the group laughed and enjoyed each other's company- happy to have just one last night of fun and relaxation before the great tournament began. Nevertheless, when it did, the six of them – Mienfoo, Scraggy, Pawniard, Timburr, Darumaka, and Joltik - would be ready to take on any challenge thrown at them. Even if they had only met just earlier that day, their bonds of friendship had already formed- bonds so powerful that nothing in this world could possibly tear them apart.

* * *

It was late, in the black and silence of night that Krokorok moved swiftly through the now dead dark streets of Royal City until coming to an abandoned warehouse in its outskirts. Upon knocking three times on a locked door to its side, a slot on the door opened up to reveal a pair of keen, soul-piercing eyes. After being asked for a password, the crocodile replied correctly and the door swung open to allow him inside. Slowly, he walked through the building, passing several large shady figures which glared down at him expectantly until stopping in front of a tall, skeletal Pokémon with an edged helmet-like head and numerous other blades attached to its metal body.

"Progress report?" the figure asked coldly, giving him a gaze that instantly shattered his normally tough demeanor.

"I have successfully entered the tournament, as you have requested," Krokorok answered nervously, fidgeting with his claws as he attempted to avoid looking the tall Pokémon directly in the eyes. "However, I must apologize for my other assignment. The diversion was ended prematurely."

"It was more than long enough, so do not worry over that matter," the other Pokémon told him without lessening its cruel tone, though the crocodile still sighed in relief. "For now, focus on winning your way through the Queen's Tournament- _and annihilate anyone who dares to stand in your way._"


	2. Chapter 2: Round One

Mienfoo's eyes immediately shot open the moment he began to stir the next morning, and he eagerly jumped out of bed a moment later. After wincing at the bright morning sun seeping into the room through the shutters of the small, sole window for a brief moment, he soon got used to the light and quickly realized that Pawniard was already up- having most likely awakened much earlier in order to prepare.

"You should go get breakfast," Pawniard told him as he stood in place, practicing various combat stances and slashing at invisible enemies with the deadly, white steel knives attached to his arms. "Since you don't really have anything important to take with you, all you should worry about is getting a decent meal before we leave. We need to meet up with the others in an hour."

"Sounds good," Mienfoo replied cheerfully before turning towards Scraggy, who was still snoring loudly in a deep sleep. Though somewhat reluctant to awaken his friend in the middle of what seemed to be a pleasant dream, he knew that the lizard was just as eager to enter the tournament as he was.

Pawniard nodded before returning to his morning training routine without another word. Mienfoo walked towards Scraggy's bed and attempted to stir him, but to no avail. The lizard wasn't keen on waking, and it took a lot of pointless effort to drag him back into consciousness.

Once Scraggy had finally awakened, Mienfoo led him out of the room, through the candle-lit hallway, and down the wooden staircase to the inn's dining hall, where free food was being provided for its residents. Mienfoo himself ate only a little, as his mind was far too preoccupied with the excitement of the upcoming tournament, but Scraggy immediately began to stuff himself with everything he could get a hold of. Other residents stared at the two in both surprise and disgust, completely awestruck as to how such a small Pokémon could eat so much.

It was not until the kitchen had nearly run out of food that Scraggy's stomach was finally content. Ignoring the stares they were receiving, the two began to return to their room on the second floor– but were stopped when Pawniard stepped out in front of them on their way to the stairs. From there, he immediately told them that the inn would be holding on to their belongings so that they wouldn't have to drag them with them everywhere throughout the tournament, having been warned that they would not be returning until it ended upon signing up for it beforehand. He believed that the event's planners would provide them with anything they needed until their return anyways.

Mienfoo smiled in agreement before turning towards the inn's entrance and walking towards it with Scraggy and Pawniard following shortly after. The three then departed towards the location where the tournament's contestants were all told to gather whenever they had signed up for it at the palace beforehand- a certain spot within the large grassy region just east of Royal City.

Not in a hurry to leave the beautiful, blooming city, Mienfoo managed to convince his friends to move slowly at first so as to get as much last-minute sightseeing in as possible. Along the way, they stopped at another inn not far from theirs to pick up Darumaka from her mother- as only contestants and tournament staff were allowed at the meeting point. Soon afterwards, they spotted Timburr amongst the passing crowds and eagerly rushed to meet him. The walk towards their destination was long and tiresome, but a little chatting amongst themselves made it much more bearable. When they had finally reached the edge of the bustling city and exited into the green prairie, it became clear they were by no means the only ones moving east. Dozens upon dozens of other young contestants within eyesight alone were also making their way to the meeting point. Clearly, nearly every young Pokémon in Uryus had come to try their luck in the tournament.

After an hour of trekking, they all finally arrived at the meeting point to find a massive crowd of young Pokémon numbering in the thousands standing in front of a large wooden stage built next to an old log cabin. Among the many adult tournament planners standing atop the stage was a small Pokémon of unrivaled beauty in the front with slender limbs, a bright blue gem embedded in the center of her forehead above her similarly colored eyes, and long, green hair filled with musical bar-styled streaks. This was Meloetta- the legendary Queen of Uryus. Like those behind her, she waited patiently as contestants continued to arrive, looking around at them all with a warm, prideful gaze.

Timburr shouted out over the chaotic sounds of thousands of contestants carrying out conversations around them in search of their missing friend Joltik. Mienfoo, Darumaka, and Scraggy soon joined him in his search as Pawniard lagged a few meters behind the group, silently surveying the competition. Though it took them a good half hour, they finally found the small yellow mite amongst the unthinkably massive crowd. Soon afterwards, they moved to the back and found a nice patch of soft grass to sit down on and bide their time together.

Within the hour, a few dozen more contestants arrived before Meloetta finally stepped forward to address them. "Welcome all," she spoke in a loud, but harmonious voice that instantly quelled the tumultuous gathering, "to the Queen's Tournament! From this point on you will be faced with various challenges designed to test your valor, skill, and intuition. The contestant who makes it to the end will be rewarded with the Sacred Oak's Golden Fruit!" Impassioned roars erupted from the crowd at these words, and the queen stopped to wait until they died down before she continued.

For some time, her speech went on as she discussed numerous topics– ranging from the tournament's creation some three hundred years ago to the reasons why they should not let the competition get in the way of having fun and getting to know one another. Within five minutes, most of the young contestants had begun to lose interest in the speech– and their impatience showed as they waited for the announcement of the first round, some even sat down to rest. Finally, after ten minutes, the Queen finally seemed to be nearing the end of her announcements and everyone promptly began to return their attention.

"This year, there are fifty-two hundred and eighty-seven entrants," she said, raising her hands to signal those who had sat down to stand, "and I must say that each and every one of you has proven yourself already for simply making the effort to enter. For you see, this tournament's purpose is not only to give away the fruit, but also to highlight the skills of, and make way for Uryus' next generation, you." The crowd cheered and clapped at these words and the queen snuck a bright smile.

"I realize that we have a few foreigners among the many applicants, and to them I must say that we are happy to have you all as well. It is my hope that, not only Uryus, but all of Pokéarth will have great Pokémon guiding them in the future." At this point, many of the foreigners in the crowd began to roar excitedly, though their outburst was soon overpowered by the rest of the contestants' clapping. After waiting for this to die down once again, Meloetta continued, "Now then, I suppose you are all ready for the tournament to begin!" Without waiting for their excited response to end, she kept speaking: "Then I am sure that you will be pleased to hear that the first round is about to kick off!" The crowd again roared at the top of their lungs as a number of different adults emerged from the nearby cabin's large door one by one while pushing large carts filled to the brim with wooden tubes connected to adjustable carrying straps.

"The rules for this round are simple enough," Meloetta explained as each cart stopped at some location adjacent to the crowd of contestants. "Each of you will receive a map of the region marked with a destination point, and you will have thirty-six hours to reach that point. Anyone who meets that requirement will be able to move on in the tournament. However, I must note that flying types will receive a different test once the others have set off due to an unfair advantage. Other than that, there are no special regulations."

As she went on, many seemed to impatiently inch towards the nearest cart as they again grew restless. Meloetta grinned slightly in amusement and raised her arms yet again. "You may begin!" she yelled, prompting everyone, save the flying types that had been excluded from the test, to flood the carts all at once, running forward to snatch a tube containing their map and then rush eastwards towards their new destination.

Unsurprisingly, the attempts of several thousand Pokémon to simultaneously evacuate the area quickly resulted in unrestrained chaos as each contestant struggled to force their way through the crowd towards the carts. Though the queen had explicitly stated that anyone who managed to make it to the goal point within the allotted time would be permitted to continue, the hostile tensions between them seemed to imply that many were under the impression they had to be there first and that everyone else would only be in their way.

Most members of Mienfoo's group shouted out in surprise as a young black and white equid rushed past them, unleashing large amounts of vibrating white bolts of electricity from its lightning-shaped mane in the process. "Get out of my way, laggards!" the Blitzle cried out, laughing aloud as they all fell to the ground for cover and he neared the cart they had been moving towards. "I'll pass this round easy!" he laughed while rushing into the distance with the tube hanging around his neck. "Nobody's faster than me!" The confused group all stared at the zebra disappearing in the distance for a moment and more Pokémon rushed past them.

"C'mon we've gotta hurry!" Timburr said loudly as he stood up, rushed towards the cart, grabbed a bunch of tubes and then threw them back to the others. Everyone then began to run after him as he charged in the eastwards direction that just about all of the other contestants were taking, save for Pawniard and Joltik- who simply sat down not far from the cart and began to inspect their respective maps together. After a minute or two, Mienfoo and the others realized that they were missing part of their group and reluctantly returned to ask them what they were doing.

"According to this map, there is a very rough region located between our current location and the finishing point," Pawniard replied, his voice hinting at a repressed irritation at the others' hastiness. "If someone were to go through it directly in a straight path, it would very likely end up taking longer than thirty-six hours to get through no matter how fast they go."

"So how are we supposed to make it, then?" Timburr asked bitterly as the tiny Darumaka sat at the end of the wooden block he had balanced over his shoulder. By this time, nearly all of the other contestants had already picked up their maps and left, giving them plenty of space to chat in a suddenly quiet environment.

"Notice that the queen never said which path we have to take to reach the destination," Joltik replied as he placed his right front leg on the paper. "Going around the rough region will probably be a much faster course, but there are quite a few plausible options. For instance, there are a handful of trails highlighted here that pass through it and aren't more than several hours away from where we are now."

Pawniard nodded in agreement. "Unfortunately, taking paths which are too crowded may result in more chaos like what just happened, while taking one that fewer contestants think to go to could hopefully help prevent needless interferences. I recommend heading north first, where we can follow a nearby river which runs northeast until nearing one such trail which will lead us through." The knife-Pokémon looked around at them expectantly with his emotionless eyes as he pointed to the location of said trail on the map. "Well, what do you all say?"

Mienfoo nodded his head to show his agreement as he scratched his snout and inspected his own map, which was identical to the others. From their interactions with one another the day before, he could tell that Pawniard was undoubtedly the most experienced of their group and felt that not listening to his suggestions would only get them in trouble.

"I have to agree," Joltik added as he too looked through the map for other options. "Though the trail's entrance might be farther away than most of the others, the path itself doesn't seem to wind through the rough region much; so it could ultimately save us time. It could very well be our best bet, though we might end up cutting it close no matter which route we take."

"Then what are we waiting for?" Timburr replied loudly after having obviously been completely lost in the others' conversation, looking at Pawniard's map on the ground with his head tilted in confusion. "We need to hurry, right?"

Mienfoo shifted his gaze towards the raised platform where Meloetta and the rest of the tournament staff still stood, now conversing amongst themselves. He paused awkwardly for a moment as he noticed the queen glance at them and give him a warm smile. After a moment, he turned back to the group and scratched the fur on the side of his head humbly. "Yeah, let's get going."

Without argument, the six quickly agreed to Pawniard's plan and then began their journey. The first leg was very easy and passed without incident as they hiked north through the wide open grassy prairie at a steady pace. Unlike their trip to the meeting point hours before, there were now no other contestants in sight – as all of the others had most likely either taken different paths or rushed ahead of them. Of course, none of them expected this quiet isolation to last long.

After a half hour, the group could finally see the outline of the river in the distance. Excited, they all began to rush towards it, but Mienfoo stopped suddenly. Within the tall, waist-high bushy grass ahead, he could have sworn that he had seen a pair of glowing multi-color eyes staring at him, but they immediately disappeared the moment he took notice of them. Several meters behind him, Pawniard stopped as well.

"Wait!" Pawniard yelled, having noticed that something was off- but it was too late. From the distant river, Mienfoo caught a glimpse of what seemed to be a small, stone-like Pokémon onboard a large wooden raft which then unleashed a beam of bright white energy from a hole on its body that shot forward to strike the closest member of their team, Scraggy, with a small, but blinding explosion.

Mienfoo sighed in relief as the dust cleared and he noticed the fallen Scraggy sit up from the tall grass he had collapsed into and look around in confusion, but the mustelid bit his lip upon glancing back at the stone Pokémon still onboard the boat. Within the crevice at the center of its round body, a huge, dense ball of bright white light seemed to gather. "LOOK OUT!" he shouted at the lizard in warning, breaking into a run as the ball of light was unleashed into the air.

Hearing this, Scraggy turned towards the river in time to see the ball's form change into the shape of a massive, spiraling white beam at least one meter in diameter which instantly disintegrated the tips of any blades of grass it passed through as it produced a roaring buzz. The yellow lizard froze, its eyes widening in shock as it saw the rapidly approaching Hyper Beam- which glowed so brightly that the light it gave off seemed to briefly make the sun above go dark in comparison. Upon realizing that he had lost his opportunity to dodge, Scraggy slammed his eyes shut and covered his head with his arms; whimpering in panic as he prepared for the attack to tear him apart with a merciless, explosive howl.

But no such thing occurred. Instead, in the instant before he should have been done for, Scraggy felt something leap towards him from the side and tackle him out of the way in a split second. The two painfully struck the ground and rolled through the tall grass as the Hyper Beam roared past them for a good ten to twenty more meters before finally dissipating in a large explosion.

"Are you alright?" Mienfoo asked Scraggy, panting as he brought himself to his feet and looked around for the others; who were still rushing to catch up.

The lizard just stared back at him with an odd smile as wet tears dripped down his face. "Mienfoo!" it shouted gleefully as it rushed forward to hug him.

"It's another team of contestants, so stay on guard!" Pawniard shouted from behind the others, his sharp eyes enabling him to see the threat more clearly than them from such a distance. "Try to get close while their artillery is still recharging!" he continued, prompting Timburr and Darumaka to rush forward towards the enemy as Mienfoo struggled to push the overly-thankful lizard away.

"You can thank me later!" the mustelid said urgently as he managed to break out of Scraggy's grasp and prepared to go follow the others towards the river, only to be interrupted when a short, brownish bipedal rodent with the same threatening eyes he had seen before suddenly jumped out of the waist-high grass to bite him in the leg with its massive white buckteeth. As he cried out in surprise and struggled with the aggressive Patrat, Scraggy quickly stepped forward the pull the rat off- giving him enough time to knock it backwards by slamming his open palm into its forehead.

Meanwhile, as Timburr neared the rushing blue river, he noticed that there were several Pokémon onboard the boat. Among them was a blue and brown, rock-like creature with two stubby legs, a single stone antennae, and a yellow crevice in the center of its body from which another small beam of flashing silver light it had fired at first, a Flash Cannon, shot out towards him from above as it quickly finished recharging. Before it struck, however, Darumaka leapt off the piece of timber in Timburr's arms to land in front of him and spit out a powerful, swirling current of flame that collided with the other attack to produce a massive explosion of fire and energy in the air between the two groups.

Using this as cover, Timburr rushed forward to the riverbank, dropped his block of wood, and began to pull on the rope attaching the small vessel to land with all his might so as to drag it closer. As it floated near them, a gray-furred Pokémon with large ears stepped past the Roggenrola and leapt onto shore before slashing at his chest with its tiny claws. Before it could follow up with another attack, however, Pawniard had jumped out of the tall grass to hold it off.

"It's over for you," the Minccino said in a threatening feminine voice as she attempted to cut him, but Pawniard easily parried every attack with his own knife-like hands. After a few attacks, she quickly realized the strength of her opponent and called out to her comrades on the boat. "Herdier! Purrloin! A little help here!" Immediately, a large, brown, shaggy-furred dog and a nimble purple feline jumped off the boat as well to support her. The two quickly surrounded Pawniard to cut him off from the others.

As Timburr stood to help, a series of small stones and seeds from the mouths' of the Roggenrola and a large, striped weasel with enormous red and orange eyes still onboard the vessel immediately bombarded him and Darumaka. Soon afterwards, a bruised Patrat came running out of the tall grass to the riverbank, being chased by Mienfoo and Scraggy. "Brother!" it screamed, and the weasel leapt down from the boat to support it by unleashing a barrage of seeds at the two attackers.

Pawniard, meanwhile, found it difficult to handle three opponents at once. Every time he moved to attack one, two others struck him from the sides- making him quickly lose stamina. The Minccino laughed. "Sorry, but the five of you aren't nearly enough to beat the six of us- too bad."

The moment she said this, a glowing yellow lightning bolt suddenly erupted from within the tall grass bordering the riverbank towards the boat to strike the Roggenrola onboard. The small Pokémon stumbled back and forth as the raised raft rapidly tilted up and down as a result of the explosion before finally tripping overboard and falling into the raging blue waters below with a splash, its heavy stone body preventing it from being able to swim back up. Triumphantly, Joltik emerged onto the riverbank from beneath the grass and unleashed a surge of electricity at the Purrloin attacking Pawniard from behind.

Using this distraction, Pawniard came forward to slash Minccino while knocking the Herdier back with his other arm. "Looks like you didn't see Joltik there," he said when she collapsed to the ground, clutching her blood-stained fur tightly, "he's a little small, so the grass hides him fairly well." Minccino scowled as he raised his arm and brought his metal elbow down onto the top of her head to knock her unconscious before turning to finish the other two.

Using his arms to defend his face and torso against the barrage of seeds, Mienfoo ran towards the Watchog responsible. After ducking down to dodge a swing from its sharp claws, he came up to deliver a powerful strike of his open palm directly into its chin before stepping closer as it stumbled back to deliver another Force Palm into its gut. It gave off a painful cough as it stumbled backwards before falling on its side, and its Patrat brother stared at Mienfoo and Scraggy from behind a large rock, quivering in fear.

With help from Joltik, Pawniard was easily able to subdue the Herdier and the Purrloin while Timburr dived into the river to rescue the drowning Roggenrola. With every opponent defeated, the group dragged them all into a single spot and surrounded them.

"Where did you get the boat?" Pawniard asked fiercely as Minccino returned to her senses a few moments later, bending down to give her a frightening glare. "Surely you weren't able to build something like this so quickly?"

Despite being obviously angry and upset at her defeat, Minccino answered dejectedly knowing that she had no choice in the matter. "My parents work for the queen and heard about this round," she said slowly. "They set it up for me and my friends to speed up our trip to the trail northwest of here by a few hours."

"Adult assistance is against the rules, you know," Pawniard responded upon hearing this and she glared back at him, her five teammates falling silent in defeat and letting her do the talking.

"We'll let you use it, if you promise not to rat us out," she said after a few moments of silence, more desperately than threateningly.

"No way!" Timburr shouted in defiance as he saw Pawniard stand straight and turn to inspect the small vessel, as if seriously considering her offer. "I didn't enter this thing to cheat!" Darumaka, Mienfoo, and Joltik quickly spoke up to voice their agreement.

Pawniard sighed as he turned to again face the chinchilla and her beaten comrades. "Darumaka, if you will." The child happily turned towards the boat and opened its mouth to unleash a ball of condensed fire towards it, which struck and shattered it into pieces with incredible force. As flames consumed what remained of the vessel, Pawniard turned back to give the defeated Pokémon a cold stare. "I suggest you give up on this tournament and hurry back to Royal City- _now_." At these words, the six of them trembled in terror and rushed away as fast as they could, eventually disappearing into the distance.

After waiting until the defeated opponents were out of sight, Mienfoo smiled. "Alright," he exclaimed, "our first victory!" Scraggy and Darumaka roared excitedly in agreement.

"Easier than I expected," the still-soaked Timburr said with a chuckle before returning to the edge of the water to retrieve his weapon, averting his eyes to keep from looking directly into the bright flames. "At this rate the whole tournament will be a breeze." Darumaka cheered as she rushed to his side.

"Everyone is aiming to win, so there are many more fights like that awaiting us," Pawniard replied passively as he began to walk north along the river. "This test was probably meant to sort out those whose physical abilities are lacking, so not all of the other contestants we meet from this point on will be as weak as those we fought here. While we walk, I suggest we try to strategize in order to prepare ourselves for what lies ahead."

After exchanging annoyed glances, the others caught up with him and chatted for a while as they walked steadily through the winding riverbank until eventually agreeing to begin planning various attack combinations and maneuvers the rest of the way. Finally, after four long hours of walking, Pawniard stopped before a dirt road emerging from a small bridge and continuing directly eastwards. "This is as far north as we need to go," he said, "so this is where we start heading straight east. It won't be long before we reach the Rough Lands, and this trail should easily lead us through."

Everyone's spirits lightened as they all turned and stepped onto the road to continue towards the Rough Lands. Even from a distance, they were able to see the numerous massive and dangerous stone hills filling the terrain- though they were tiny stones in comparison to the overwhelmingly huge Sacred Oak still visible to the southwest. They were all confused, however, when they noticed two young, red-furred simians hurrying down the trail ahead of them in the opposite direction.

When they came near, the group realized that both Pokémon were badly beaten and bruised. "Don't go that way!" one of the infant Pansears urgently warned them. "There's a really strong kid up ahead beating up anyone that tries to use the trail!" The other Pansear nodded in agreement. After a moment of confusion, Mienfoo and the others understood the situation.

"A tough guy, huh?" Timburr spoke, cracking his knuckles in excitement. "We better go teach him a lesson!"

"Agreed," Joltik replied. "I'm not about to give up and turn back just yet." With no argument over the matter, everyone in the group decided to continue forward.

"Don't worry; we'll put a stop to this," Mienfoo said, turning around to reassure the two fleeing Pokémon that everything would be alright. Unfortunately, the Pansears did not look as if they had any intentions of continuing onwards.

It didn't take long for them to find the problem. The section of the trail that continued ahead into the Rough Lands cut directly through the region to form a large ravine of sorts- where the tightly packed rocky hills bordering it on each side were almost indistinguishable from the walls of a canyon. At the entrance laid a pile of around three unconscious young Pokémon, and a couple others still struggled with the bully responsible.

With several attacks, the perpetrator easily felled one of them and then came forward to slam the second with its long, black-striped brown tail, hurling it back a few feet in the group's direction. Noticing them, the Pokémon smiled to reveal a row of sharp teeth within its long snout. "Ah, it's you guys again," he spoke in an arrogant tone. "I didn't think we'd meet again so soon."

"Krokorok…" Timburr muttered angrily under his breath, forming a fierce scowl as the crocodile Pokémon stepped forward. The earth beneath the enemy's feet seemed to rumble in anticipation.


	3. Chapter 3: The Rough Lands

"Just what are you up to?" Pawniard asked as Krokorok neared them. Though tall, the gator's appearance was dwarfed by the massive ravine leading into the Rough Lands behind him.

Krokorok laughed in reply. "Isn't it obvious, I'm getting rid of the competition." The six stared back at him in disgust, but were met only with a confident smirk. "Now then," Krokorok continued, "let's get this fight started."

"I couldn't agree more!" Timburr shouted as he rushed forward to strike the enemy with the piece of timber in his arms, but Krokorok simply stomped his foot on the ground in his direction to create a wave of pressure which instantly knocked him back. Without pausing, the Pokémon opened his mouth to unleash a steady stream of sand that struck the ground and blew towards the group, quickly forming a monstrous wave as it picked up more and more dirt in the process. Then, the crocodile lowered his head and followed it towards them as quickly as he could.

Covering his eyes with his arms to protect them from the sandstorm as it struck, Pawniard shouted commands to the others. "Mienfoo! Scraggy! You two go get his victims out of the way! The rest of us will try to push him back!"

Mienfoo immediately complied, and Scraggy followed soon after. First, he moved to pick up the Pokémon that had been kicked towards them, which he handed to Scraggy and instructed him to carry further away. Then, he set his sights on the unconscious pile of children behind the crocodile and rushed forward through the sandstorm to reach them.

"I don't think so!" Krokorok shouted as he swiftly moved into the raging wind and sand to strike Mienfoo with his claws, only to be stopped by Pawniard. Stepping forward, the crocodile began to rapidly swipe his claws and tail, and Pawniard struggled to keep up until finally being knocked back by a strike to the head. Before he could follow up with another attack, however, Timburr snuck up on him from behind and slammed his wooden weapon into his back.

As the crocodile moved to counterattack, Mienfoo had arrived at the pile of unconscious Pokémon and used all of his strength to carry them away from the fight on the trail one at a time. Within a minute or two, Scraggy had returned to help him as well.

Back inside the sandstorm, Joltik and Darumaka had joined the fight, but quickly found that their lightning and fire attacks were almost useless on the enemy. Instead, they resorted to using them to distract him long enough for Timburr and Pawniard to deliver their own blows. By the time Mienfoo and Scraggy had moved most of the fallen Pokémon out of the way, they had managed to push him out of the sandstorm and towards the ravine. When Mienfoo and Scraggy had finished, they immediately rushed to aid their comrades- taking positions behind the crocodile in order to surround him.

Noticing this, Krokorok smiled. "You're all pretty good," he spoke, jumping up and slamming back into the ground to produce a tremor strong enough to knock all four off their feet; using the force of the mini-earthquake to jump again even higher, soaring backwards into the air before landing right inside the ravine, "-but not good enough!"

Without hesitating, Pawniard, Mienfoo, and Timburr stood up and began to rush towards him restlessly as Joltik unleashed a wave of electricity that flew over their heads to explode before the crocodile's feet- blinding him long enough for them to reach him and deliver a series of combo attacks.

Laughing, Krokorok again leapt backwards, further into the ravine before coming down and slamming his fist to the ground to create a large, thick wave of sand that quickly shot towards the three before reaching and beginning to spin around them like a tomb of sand to keep them from following. By now, forced to stop thanks to the raging sand surrounding them, they were all beginning to pant in frustration.

"As much as I hate to admit it," Timburr spoke, biting his lip in frustration as he looked at the spinning wall of sand blocking their path from all sides, "he IS strong."

Pawniard let out an irritated grunt before dashing forward into the sand, breaking through it with a quick burst of speed and charging towards the crocodile to continue the battle. Timburr and Mienfoo quickly followed as their three companions rushed into the ravine after them and the large sand tomb in the middle of it began to die down. Pawniard's blades and Krokorok's claws clashed several times before anyone managed to come near to support him.

With his incredible strength, the crocodile pushed against Pawniard's blades to force him backwards before pivoting around to swing his tail into Timburr's head while elbowing Mienfoo in the side. When Mienfoo hit the ground, Krokorok stopped and raised both his arms as if to bring them down and smash him to a pulp. Before the attack landed, Pawniard had jumped up to grapple the crocodile's head and pull him to the ground- only for him to twist while falling so that Pawniard took the brunt of the damage by hitting the ground beneath him.

Standing up with a scowl, Krokorok fiercely kicked the bladed Pokémon away, but, as he turned back to Mienfoo, he was greeted with a Force Palm to the chest. The crocodile stumbled backwards, but quickly regained his footing and stood sturdy. "That all you got?" he asked, prompting Mienfoo to rush forward and deliver another palm strike to his shoulder, and then another to the left side of his ribcage. In an instant, he had managed to gain advantageous footing and began to deliver as many Force Palm attacks as he could manage in rapid succession. After just under half a dozen successful hits, Mienfoo stopped and stepped back to catch his breath- but his eyes widened in horror when he realized that Krokorok was still standing strong.

Stepping forward, the black-striped brown crocodile laughed. "My turn," he spoke menacingly as he whipped his tail to trip Mienfoo towards him and his knee buried itself in his gut. Then, Krokorok grabbed onto Mienfoo tightly and bent down- creating a mini-earthquake that magnified the force of his jump, allowing him to drag the young mustelid Pokémon high into the sky above the ravine. As he reached the highest point in his leap, the crocodile shifted his center of balance back and then tilted quickly forward to throw Mienfoo with all his strength, sending him soaring deep into the thousands of tightly packed stone hills that make up the massive rough region.

Upon coming back down, Krokorok punched the ground with both his fists to generate an earthquake which knocked the other Pokémon off their feet while they were still confused as to what had just happened. When this was finished, the crocodile bent down to pant heavily and spat out a mouthful of blood – obviously not unfazed by his opponents' barrage of attacks. When he had caught his breath, he turned to what remained of the group. "Who's next?" Four of the five stared at Krokorok in shock, and he grinned confidently at their bewildered faces, but this smile died the moment he noticed the fifth's face.

Scraggy's big eyes were filled with an insurmountable hatred, and his mouth revealed a fierce, murderous frown- a face that would make even an adult step back in terror. "What's the matter with you?" Krokorok asked after regaining his composure, and was answered in an instant by a blindingly fast fist to the face.

"MIEENNFOOO…!" the lizard roared angrily as the crocodile tumbled backwards many meters. The moment he had managed to stop himself and stand, Scraggy had instantaneously closed the distance between them and unleashed a mighty kick into his stomach to send him flying back even further.

The others stared in shock at their friend's sudden skill, briefly forgetting about Mienfoo's predicament. "Was he always that strong?" Timburr asked aloud as they finally rushed forward in attempt to catch up.

"I don't know," Joltik answered, snapping back into the seriousness of the situation, "but I'm not looking down on him ever again. What about Mienfoo?"

"We'll deal with that later," Pawniard answered in a cold, emotionless tone as he took the lead, lowering his head to hide a furious glare. "In the meantime, we'd better try to detain Scraggy. I don't think he's going to be easy to stop when he's like this."

Up ahead, the ravine turned sharply so the others could not see what was going on, but Krokorok had managed to stand and fend off Scraggy's attacks- but only just barely. After blocking a few hits, his guard was broken- allowing Scraggy to send him flying into the ravine wall with a single, high-speed punch to the center of his chest.

"…damn…" he grumbled, spitting out a broken, blood-soaked tooth and struggling to stand as the enraged Scraggy came forward, roaring, to deliver the final blow.

Minutes later, the others had finally arrived on the scene to find Scraggy laying face down on the dirt-coated ground unconscious and Krokorok nowhere in sight. "Did he lose?" Joltik asked as Pawniard flipped their friend over, cursing under his breath.

Inspecting him, Pawniard found a single small indented patch of flesh in his torso, as if someone had jabbed him once with a single blunt finger. It was clear to him that the injury was far too small and precise to have been delivered by Krokorok. "Someone else interfered," he answered coldly.

"So Krokorok's got an ally, huh?" Timburr responded, almost trembling. "That's a surprise. I'd hate to see two enemies as strong as him walking around."

"No," Pawniard corrected him, "Scraggy and Krokorok are strong, but whoever did this is on a completely different level." Everyone fell silent in awe at this news. "I don't think our friend here is going to wake up for quite a while, so we'll have to carry him the rest of the way." After pausing for a moment and giving off a bitter look, he continued. "We'd best get going if we want to make the time limit."

"Wait, aren't we going back for Mienfoo?" Joltik asked, stopping him. Timburr and Darumaka nodded in agreement.

Pawniard shook his head, a look of intense self-deprecation spreading across his face. "Krokorok sent him far, and it will take too long for us to find and meet up with him in this region," he finally answered, walking ahead while trying to conceal his worry in an emotionless veil. "He's better off trying to continue on his own. Mienfoo is smart; I'm sure he'll understand. As for his injuries, Fighting-types have tough bodies, and I highly doubt that the Queen is going to let anyone die in this tournament."

"What are you saying!?" Timburr protested angrily at the knife-Pokémon's back. "We can't just leave him behind! Is this how you treat your frien-?"

"Enough!" Joltik stopped him mid-sentence, jumping between them. "Pawniard's the one who suggested we take this path in order to help avoid confrontations like what just happened, and now Mienfoo's gone and we don't have time to go after him. How do you think he feels?"

Timburr glared at Pawniard and grumbled a bit before finally agreeing to go along. He reluctantly slumped over to carry the limp Scraggy on his shoulder. Once again, the group - minus one- set off through the Ravine towards their destination, praying for their missing comrade's well-being.

* * *

The searing afternoon sun burned down over the Rough Lands for several hours before Mienfoo's eyes finally opened. Coming to, he realized that he had been thrown quite a distance away and was lying on a small, sand-colored stone plateau among a sea of dry, rocky hills, unable to tell the direction of the ravine he had been thrown out of.

After standing up and inspecting his lifeless surroundings, Mienfoo eventually came to the same conclusion as Pawniard: attempting to meet up with his friends would be too time consuming. The best chance he had at making it to the destination in time was to continue on his own. Looking into the sky to check the location of the sun, he was able pinpoint the direction he needed to travel. In order to make up for lost time, he decided to head southeast, directly towards the destination, rather than going back to the trail north of him. He would just have to navigate the rough terrain to the best of his ability so as to have even a shot at reaching it in time.

Without wasting a moment, he moved to the edge of the plateau and began to climb down the rough cliff. With few sturdy footholds present, this act alone took him at least ten minutes, and he turned to find many more, similar hills ahead. After letting out a sigh, Mienfoo continued forward, attempting to weave through the terrain as quickly as he could.

Again, hours passed as Mienfoo moved on, making significant, but still inefficient progress. His whole body was painfully sore from both his previous injuries and the constant climbing, but he rushed onwards regardless. As he attempted to scale a particularly large hill in his way, an outstretched rock he had grabbed onto as a handhold broke off and sent him tumbling down. Upon hitting the hard ground, Mienfoo laid still and groaned. Looking up at the sky, he bit his lip and clenched his fist. This was the only chance at winning the Golden Fruit he would have in all his life and he didn't want to be unable to continue through the tournament with his newfound friends already. If he gave up now, he knew that he would regret it forever. Ignoring the pain, he stood and began to climb again, pushing forward with all his might.

* * *

Elsewhere in the same region, a bandaged Krokorok stood silently at the top of a massive stone hill which towered over all the others. As the wind blew softly, he stared outwards at the faint Sacred Oak in the far-off distance. From behind him, the sound of light footsteps quickly climbing upwards resounded. Upon turning to face the Pokémon the noise belonged to, he noticed a dark shadow dart out of sight.

"That's enough," he muttered quietly. "I know you're there. Weavile. Accelgor."

From behind large rocks at lower points on the hill, two shadows shot out at blinding speeds to land just before the crocodile in a single leap. "You noticed us, huh?" one of them, a foreigner with black skin, a few bright red feathers on his head and tail, and an angry glare, asked in a gruff voice. The other, an Accelgor with a dark cloak and a green-striped pink helmet, remained silent.

"Why are you following me?" Krokorok asked defiantly, turning back around. "This is my mission."

"If we were to leave the most important tasks of this operation to a mere child, our organization's reputation would be tarnished," the Weavile answered, "-so we were told by Bisharp to follow and support you from the shadows. Good thing too, you'd have been done for if Accelgor hadn't intervened in your battle with that Scraggy earlier."

"That's not the problem!" the gator yelled, turning back angrily. "The queen undoubtedly has psychics keeping track of every contestant's wellbeing. If they notice that there are adults aiding me, everything will be ruined!"

Weavile gave off an impatient tsk. "We're professionals, don't lump us together with inexperienced children like yourself. There's no way we'd be caught by any mere telepaths." Krokorok fell silent and turned away before he continued. "Given your recent loss, I would suggest you hurry to complete this round and play it safe from here on out. Regardless of how much you want to prove yourself to us; no more needless fights, got it?"

After a moment, Krokorok finally responded in a resentful tone. "Very well."

* * *

"Just how are we supposed to get down there?" Timburr asked as the group came to a stop where the road within the ravine suddenly dropped vertically a great distance to create a massive, rocky cliff. Hours had passed since their separation from Mienfoo, and it was clear that they still had a ways to go.

"We climb," Joltik replied cheerfully as he stepped forward and began to easily climb down thanks to his sticky, spider-like limbs.

"That's not fair!" Timburr countered as Pawniard helped Darumaka down. Shifting the unconscious Scraggy onto his back, he threw his wooden block over the edge of the cliff so that he could retrieve it at the bottom later and began to slowly move downwards. "Now might not be the best time to tell you all this," he continued loudly when the others were nearing halfway down while he was still stuck near the top, "but I've never been too big on climbing."

Pawniard sighed and called up to him. "Just try to get as far down as you can," he instructed. "I'll come back up and help you once Darumaka is down."

After dejectedly agreeing, Timburr continued to slowly make his way down while trying to balance Scraggy on his back. He had barely made it a quarter of the way when Pawniard and Darumaka reached the ground, and Pawniard called up to inform him that he was going back up. As Timburr attempted to take another step down, however, his foot slipped and he pushed his center of balance forward to keep from falling. "LOOK OUT!" he screamed in panic as Scraggy slipped off his back and fell towards the ground headfirst.

Everyone's eyes widened as they saw Scraggy plummet downwards, knowing that such a fall could be deadly and that there was nothing they could do to save him. Pawniard jumped down and ran beneath his shadow in attempt to catch him before he landed, though he knew that it wouldn't do any good. As Scraggy came about halfway to the ground, a brownish blur shot out of the southern ravine wall towards him, and they both promptly disappeared into the northern one. The group's panic immediately turned to pure confusion.

After a moment, the blur returned and leaped out of the rocky hills, beginning to scale the ravine wall with a series of skillful jumps before coming down right in front of Pawniard and the others. They fell silent as they saw the large buffalo Pokémon; sporting a massive afro and two long horns, walk towards them with Scraggy lying across its back. "Lose something?" the Bouffalant asked calmly as it bent over to roll the unconscious Pokémon onto the loose dirt.

"Th... thank you," Pawniard said, both his confusion and his graciousness at this turn of events clearly showing in his voice. "But who are you?"

"Bouffalant," the stranger replied. "I just happened to be passing by, so I lent a hand." That said, the bison turned and prepared to take off, but was stopped by Pawniard.

"You just happened to be passing by in a place like this?"

Bouffalant stopped and looked back at the Knife Pokémon. "The rest of my team reached the destination early on, so I'm travelling around to scout the competition. I grew up in this sort of terrain, so moving through it is no problem for me."

Pawniard and Joltik fell silent at this news, though Darumaka was too young to understand. While Bouffalant certainly seemed young, he seemed to carry the atmosphere of a responsible adult- making it hard to believe that he was actually young enough to enter the Queen's Tournament. Then again, they knew that there were a few adolescent contestants, and the bison did not appear to be lying. For the most part, however, they were worried about having to go up against him. From what they had seen of his abilities just now and the fact that his team had already reached the destination when only around ten to twelve hours had passed, it was clear that he would be no easy opponent. For now, they both knew that attempting to befriend him was the best course of action.

"And what sort of competition have you found?" Joltik asked, stumbling to continue the conversation.

Bouffalant looked up, as if in thought, for a moment before replying. "Most everyone I've seen so far are pushovers, but there are a few prodigies out there- they'll probably be the ones to make it into the later rounds. Anyways, you all better get going. The route you're on now is easy, but long. It will take you at least seventeen more hours to get out of this region and then head south towards the destination- and that's if you don't stop to rest for the night."

Pawniard nodded in agreement, and Bouffalant began to move towards the large ravine wall. After moving to pick up Scraggy, he called out to him in a hopeful tone – the first time his mood appeared to lighten since the incident with Krokorok. "We lost a friend, a Mienfoo, in this region earlier and can't get back to him. If you happen to come across him, we'd greatly appreciate it if you could lend him a hand."

Bouffalant looked back and smiled. "I'll keep an eye out, but the Rough Lands are a big region. I can't promise anything," he responded before turning back and leaping up and disappearing out of sight into the rocky hills.

After a couple of minutes, Timburr finally reached the bottom of the cliff. "What was that about?" he asked, looking in the direction where Bouffalant had disappeared.

Pawniard shrugged and turned around to continue down the path. "Nothing important," he answered.

"Liar!" Timburr yelled back as he moved to retrieve his weapon before going after them. "It was important, wasn't it?" Joltik and Darumaka both sniggered.

* * *

The sun had set over Uryus, and Mienfoo still struggled to make his way through the rocky hills- knowing that he would not be able to make it in time if he stopped to rest for the night. Still, all of this constant climbing made his body ache more than it ever had before, and it became increasingly difficult to navigate the terrain as the sky grew darker.

An hour after night had fallen; the young Pokémon finally reached another rocky plateau that overlooked the Rough Lands. Standing as high as he could, he stared carefully out into the horizon- but could see nothing but an endless sea of stone hills around him. Even the massive Sacred Oak appeared only as a small point in the distance. After coming so far, he was still not even close to making it out of this region.

As he realized this, a soft drizzle began to rain down onto his head and he collapsed to his knees, no longer able to resist the pain of his injuries and tired muscles. "I'll never make it…" he told himself aloud sorrowfully as his fur became wet and salty tears rolled out his eyes. "Sorry guys…" Falling to the ground, he began to bawl out at both the pain of his wounds and the fact that he could no longer bring himself to continue onwards.

This went on for several minutes until Mienfoo finally cried himself out. Wiping his eyes with the pink sleeve-like fur on his arms, he sat up and stared blankly in front of him, listening sadly in self-pity to the pitter-patter of the rain and the sounds the water made as it seeped into the earth through cracks in the hard ground. At some point, however, he realized that there was another noise, besides the rain and flowing water, resounding from behind him. After a minute, he recognized it as the sound of humming. Turning around, he noticed a stout, red-skinned Pokémon wearing white clothes slowly moving in his direction through the hills while singing to himself. Mienfoo stared at the Pokémon for several minutes as he came near, and he was eventually noticed as well.

"Why, hello there!" the red Pokémon greeted him with a cheerful wave. Coming to the plateau, he began to climb up it until reaching the top. "I'm Throh," he introduced himself with a smile, extending a hand in greeting.

Mienfoo shook his hand and introduced himself in exchange, though in a more depressed tone. "Mienfoo."

Throh laughed and sat down by crossing his legs. "So, are you a contestant too?" he asked.

Mienfoo hesitated for a moment at these words. "I was," he answered regretfully, "but I don't think I can go on any further. I suppose I'd better just drop out."

"Don't say that!" Throh stopped him. "You can't just give up! I mean, you're already around halfway, right?"

"Even if that's true," he replied, staring down at the ground, "there's no way I'd make it to the destination in time; the terrain is just too difficult."

Throh fell silent and thought for a moment. "Do you know why, I'm taking this route?" he finally responded with a question, which quickly perked Mienfoo's interest. "You see, I was born in a secluded dojo in the Uryus Mountains to the north. There, everyone is dedicated to training themselves as much as possible.

"Certainly, I could have taken a road which would have led me through these Rough Lands easily, but then I would be no better off than I was before. On the other hand, taking the more difficult route will ultimately improve my body and leave me more prepared for what lies ahead."

Noticing that Mienfoo was beginning to understand, Throh continued. "There must be some reason why you entered this tournament, right?" Mienfoo nodded in agreement, shaking the rainwater off his fur. "No matter what it is, won't you be more pleased with yourself if you finish this having fought to the best of your ability and done everything possible to improve your body and mind, whether you accomplish that goal in the end or not?"

"I suppose so," Mienfoo replied, his spirits lightened somewhat, "but that still doesn't change the fact that I'll never get past this terrain in time, and this is the only chance I'll ever have at winning the Golden Fruit in my entire life."

Throh chuckled. "The trick to getting through these hills quickly is not speed, but _perseverance_. If you try to rush through them, you will only tire yourself out and need to stop to rest more often. Conserve your energy and take it slow, but steady. If you follow this rule, you will find making it through here much simpler."

Mienfoo pondered these words of wisdom for a moment, but sighed in disappointment. "I think I'm already too tired, though. Even if I were to start after a good night's rest, it would be too late."

"That might be true," Throh replied, scratching his chin in thought. Then, his eyes widened and a smile spread across his face. After reaching into his white and black martial arts outfit, he pulled out a small, clay canister. "Here, drink this."

Upon accepting the item, Mienfoo fingered it in confusion. "What is it?"

"It's a special drink specially made from rare herbs and berries by my dojo. Just one mouthful will give even someone on their deathbed enough energy to move around for several hours. It even helps speed up the healing process of your wounds a little."

After hearing this, he stared at the canister in disbelief. "Th… this is so nice of you," he replied. "Are you sure it's ok for me to take it?"

"I brewed a few of these before I left just in case, but I never actually intended to use them. It's more of a challenge that way, you know? Besides, you need it more than me right now- and I'm looking forward to meeting you later on in the tournament." Throh said these words cheerfully, and Mienfoo smiled at his new friend's incredible kindness before unscrewing the lid and taking a sip.

The drink's cool, sweet herbal taste was so delicious and refreshing that he went on to chug every last drop. Upon finishing it, he set down the canister and jumped to his feet with renewed vigor. "This is great!" he shouted cheerfully as he felt all of his energy return and the pain of his injuries fade. "I feel like I can go on all night!" Throh clapped and laughed as he danced around the plateau happily in the rain.

"Don't hog that stuff all for yourself!" A third, very angry and bitter voice called out to the two from behind, and they turned to see a very tired, bruised, and beaten zebra-like Pokémon with a mane resembling a lightning bolt step onto the plateau as well. Rainwater dripped down its black and white fur as it stared at them with distraught blue eyes. "Give me some!"

After looking at him for a moment, Mienfoo's jaw dropped as he realized who this was. "You're that Blitzle that attacked me and my friends after the Queen's speech ended earlier today!" he shouted in surprise, though not with a resentful tone. He was too kind a person to hold such foolish grudges.

The Blitzle grumbled at these words, but quickly regained his composure. "Sorry about that," he responded. "I was just a little excited, that's all. But I didn't realize how difficult this region was, and I ended up crashing too many times when I tried to run through it.

"But now I understand," the zebra continued, shifting his gaze to and from the two of them, "I just have to take it slower and be more careful so that I can pass the round. If I only had one of those drinks, I'd have another chance at making it. Please."

Throh sat there for a moment before reaching into his outfit and pulling out another canister. "OK, then," he replied as he rolled it on the flat, stone ground towards Blitzle. "I can't just go around giving help to one fellow contestant and no one else, after all."

When the canister came near him, Blitzle stopped it with his hoof and greedily snatched it off the ground with his mouth. Breaking the lid with his teeth, the zebra raised his head and began to quickly gulp the drink down. Upon finishing, he dropped the canister and roared into the dark cloud-filled sky with utmost satisfaction. Then, a bolt of white lightning erupted from its mane to explode violently at Throh's location, though he was able to easily stand up and jump out of the way in time.

"Hey! What was that about?" Mienfoo shouted angrily when Blitzle stepped back and began to charge up more electricity.

"If I had more of those things, winning this tournament would be a piece of cake!" he answered loudly as he unleashed another series of thunderbolts at Throh. "So hand the rest over!"

Instead of responding, Throh merely jumped around to effortlessly evade the various attacks. Blitzle laughed as he released a large wave of vibrating electricity towards him in such a way that he would not be able to dodge. Throh raised his arms to brace himself, but quickly found that Mienfoo had jumped in the way to protect him.

When the resulting smoke had cleared, Mienfoo still stood strong - albeit with slightly singed fur. "Throh here is my friend, and I owe him so much," he said angrily while stepping towards the zebra. "If you want to attack him, you'll have to go through me first."

Blitzle grunted. "Fine then," he replied while releasing another barrage of electric bolts, "I'll beat you down too!"

Coming forward, Mienfoo ducked to the ground to dodge beneath the lightning before leaping upwards to reach incredible heights- coming down onto the enemy's back to deliver a fierce bounce attack with his swinging paws. Ignoring the painful surge of electricity that flowed through him as they came into contact, Mienfoo rolled to the ground and faked an attack to the left then twisted around to deliver a Force Palm from the right. As Blitzle stumbled backwards, Mienfoo stepped closer and ducked beneath him before raising his leg to launch him off the ground with a vertical High Jump Kick to the stomach.

"Stupid fool!" Blitzle shouted from mid-air as he charged up more energy before unleashing it to deliver a massive Thunderbolt directly at him from above.

Before the attack hit, Mienfoo jumped upwards as a sphere of swirling, bluish energy began to gather between his fists, giving off a bright, magnificent glow. Crying out, he then threw the Aura Sphere upwards into the air where it collided with Blitzle's thunderbolt to produce a violent, smoky explosion between the two fighters. An instant later, Mienfoo landed on his feet while the zebra crashed down on his side.

Struggling to stand upright, Blitzle muttered under his breath angrily. "You think you can beat me?" he asked aloud non-threateningly, obviously attempting to convince himself to continue. "I'll show you!" Another bolt of lightning shot out of his mane towards Mienfoo, who ran towards it while bracing himself to take the attack head on.

For a second, Blitzle smiled as he saw his attack explode on contact with the young Pokémon, but his eyes widened in surprise when Mienfoo jumped through it to deliver a mid-air Jump Kick to his neck. When he had fallen, Mienfoo stepped back.

"An ungracious, greedy, and crude Pokémon like you doesn't deserve to win the Golden Fruit," Mienfoo spoke strongly, his clawed fists clenched with repressed rage. "I will end your journey through this tournament right here and now!" Upon saying these words, he ran forward to kick the zebra in the side with all his might- sending him flying far off of the dark plateau.

After a moment, Mienfoo caught his breath and turned back to his new friend. "I'm sorry about that," he said dejectedly as he bowed his head slightly in apology, "I might have gone overboard there."

"Don't be," Throh replied, clapping. "You're pretty strong, and you fight for what you believe in. I look forward to battling you later on." Mienfoo looked back at him in surprise for a moment, prompting him to explain further. "I'd rather go up against an honorable competitor such as you than a self-centered one like him. But enough of that, I think we've rested here long enough. Let's move on, shall we? You're ok, right?"

Mienfoo smiled and nodded to let him know that the fight hadn't hurt him too badly, but stopped short after beginning to walk after him. "What about Blitzle?" he asked worriedly, looking back in the fallen zebra's direction as if suddenly realizing just what he had done.

"I think he'll be fine," Throh answered sympathetically. "His injuries aren't fatal, and the Queen will probably send some of her knights out to save the stragglers if she feels their lives are at risk."

After a brief pause, Mienfoo followed him off of the plateau and they slowly began to weave their way through the hills together. Upon passing at least three, he stopped upon realizing something else. "Hey, Throh," he spoke as he resumed pace, "earlier you asked me if I had a reason for entering the tournament, and I told you that I wanted to win the Golden Fruit." Throh nodded in acknowledgement. "What's your reason?"

The stout Pokémon stood still for a moment. "Part of it is because I wished to test and improve my abilities," he answered, "and the main reason is of a similar vein. You see, there is a certain Pokémon in this tournament who I wish to defeat."

Mienfoo looked up at Throh, wondering who it was he was talking about. Realizing that it wasn't any of his business, he continued after him and they travelled through the region together well into the night.

* * *

It was well past midnight when a tall, steel-skinned Pokémon with numerous sharp blades across its body and a helmet-like head stepped into the impossibly rocky terrain that comprised the Rough Lands. With a single, effortless jump, it was able to reach the top of a nearby stone hill in the blink of an eye.

Before him, a wall-like dark void appeared and from it emerged a golden, floating sarcophagus with two glowing red eyes and four shadowy arms. Behind the coffin came a large, vulture-like Pokémon with brown feathers and a bare pink head. "Ah, Bisharp," the vulture spoke in a cruel, feminine tone, "how's it going?"

The steel-skinned Pokémon looked back at the vulture with a blank, featureless glare. "Progress report?" Bisharp asked dispassionately, ignoring her question.

The Mandibuzz sighed. "As you predicted, the Golden Fruit has been removed from the palace. Its current location is unknown, but we have reason to believe that it is being kept in the ruins of Centerton- where the contestants of the Queen's Tournament are currently gathering. Garbodor and Simidark are in the area investigating further."

"What of Krokorok?" Bisharp inquired as he passed between them and began to walk forward down the hill.

This time, the coffin-like Pokémon answered as he and Mandibuzz turned to follow him. "He is being supported by Weavile and Accelgor, as you requested. According to Weavile's last update, they successfully lead him to Centerton two hours ago and are currently hiding out in the surrounding forests to avoid detection. Apparently the Queen and several of her knights are there as well."

"I expected as much. Tell them to continue supporting the kid as long as possible," Bisharp ordered calmly. "In the mean time, we will wait until Simidark reports back with further information before stepping in. Understood?" The two Pokémon quickly agreed, and Bisharp promptly disappeared in a sudden high-speed blur.

"He really intends to go up against the Queen?" Cofagrigus asked when he was sure that they were out of earshot.

"No task is impossible so long as the pay is good enough," Mandibuzz answered with an evil smile. "That's DLST's motto, after all."

* * *

**A/N: My favorite chapter so far, and I hope you all liked it as well. Anyways, thanks for reading. Coming up next is Chapter 4: To Centerton.**


	4. Chapter 4: To Centerton

"…. Wha….?" Mienfoo drearily thought aloud as he slowly came to, wincing from the hot afternoon sun glaring down through two rocky cliffs directly into his eyes. After standing up slowly, he brushed the dirt off his toasted fur, smacked his dry, cracking lips, and looked around at the stone hills surrounding him. Almost immediately, he brought his paw to his forehead and cursed himself. '_What was I thinking!'_ he thought as he began to scale the nearest hill in order to get a better look at the sky. '_Did I oversleep?'_

Upon reaching the top, he stared up at the glowing sun hanging in the center of the sky and quickly confirmed his suspicions. Upon realizing this, he quickly dropped to his knees in defeat, lowered his head, and sighed disappointedly as a light, but warm breeze blew his fur and whiskers uncomfortably. The heat from the sun above seemed to distort his view of the sky, making the flaming mass appear to dance tauntingly at the young mustelid Pokémon.

_'I shouldn't have stopped…'_ Mienfoo thought depressingly as his mind raced back to the previous night, when his tired, injured body had finally begun to overwhelm the energy drink's effects. Not wanting to hold his friend back, he had told Throh to go on without him. Though he had planned to stop only briefly, the cool night sky had proven to be too much and quickly lured him into a deep sleep. Now, he realized that he had been asleep for a good seven or eight hours and only had approximately the same amount of time, hopefully a little more, to continue. He knew that he would never be able to escape the large Rough Lands region so quickly, and he no longer had the chance to meet up and continue through the tournament with Pawniard and the others. He had already lost.

_"… won't you be more pleased with yourself if you finish this having fought to the best of your ability and done everything possible to improve your body and mind, whether you accomplish that goal in the end or not?"_

Throh's words echoed through his head as it hang low in a defeated manner, and he instantly stood up, closed his paws into a tight fist, and smiled determinedly. '_That's right,'_ Mienfoo thought as he clenched his teeth and rubbed his blurry eyes on his warm sleeve-like fur, causing the dancing sun to return to its still, dejected position in the sky. 'J_ust because it's impossible to succeed doesn't mean I shouldn't try!'_

Without a second thought, he began to steadily climb back down the cliff to the dusty, stone ground where he had just awoken. On a small nearby boulder, a small clay canister caught his eye and he reached out to pick it up. He smiled as he held the drink in his hands, glad at his friend's kind gesture. However, he felt rested enough from his long nap to continue on without it. "Guess I'll save this for later," he told himself aloud as he undid the shoulder strap attaching himself to the tube he had received at the start of the round the day before and slid it inside along with his rolled up map.

Knowing that he would need to hurry if he was to have any chance at all, no matter how slight, of making it in time, Mienfoo immediately set off towards the hill before him and a look of ascertainment flashed in his eyes. There was no way he was going to let anyone down by losing this round, no matter the odds. And even if he did, he would only satisfied by the fact that he had tried his very best until the end- even if he was still far from making it out of the Rough Lands by then.

Even more hours passed as Mienfoo slowly, but steadily weaved through the rocky hills and made his way onwards- not stopping to rest even once. It was not until the time limit approached four hours or so and the afternoon was nearing its end that he began to unconsciously panic a little. Still, he knew that he could not give up just yet, and began to force himself to pick up the pace. He hadn't gotten far when he heard a faint voice calling out desperately from the cliffs up ahead. Curious, he decided to stop briefly to investigate.

Approaching the site where the voice came from, he noticed a great mass of broken stones lying at the base of a rocky hill that looked that as if its peak had been shattered and the resulting pieces fallen to the ground as if some sort of small tremor had occurred there. The voice, it seemed, seeped out from beneath the pile of rocks. "Anyone in there?" he called out to it loudly.

"…Please, help!" the faint voice answered him with renewed vigor, and Mienfoo realized that a Pokémon must have been inside a cave or crevice when the rocks had sealed him inside.

He stood there in thought for a moment. If Throh was right, then an adult would eventually come to save the trapped contestant, so there was no reason for him to waste time trying to free him. Still, at this point he had realized that no matter how fast he moved, there was unfortunately no way he would be able to make it in time. Perhaps potentially saving a life would be better than pointlessly trying to continue onwards anyways. "Don't worry!" he told the Pokémon inside after coming to a decision. "I'll get you out of there!"

Working as quickly as he could, Mienfoo attempted to remove the stones with all of his strength and muscle as a fighting-type, but the task took him a good twenty minutes before he was able to get to the trapped Pokémon inside. As he removed the last one with a mighty heave, a small-bodied, grey-skinned Pokémon with a disproportionately large forehead, glowing green eyes and two short, stubby legs pushed its way out, struggling to see in the bright sunlight. The brownish tube hanging across its shoulder told him that it was a fellow contestant as well.

"Thank you, friend," the Pokémon spoke in a drawn-out, robotic voice, though the terrified-yet greatly relieved tone behind it could clearly be detected. "I was beginning to worry that I would never escape that place. I am Elgyem."

"Mienfoo," he replied as he inspected Elgyem's bruised and beaten body. It was obvious that he was very worn out, though his injuries seemed to have been dealt some time ago and were already beginning to heal. "How did you get stuck in there, anyways?"

Elgyem shook his head, raising his hand to shield his eyes from the bright sun. "I was attempting to use my psychic abilities to float over the region, but I was spotted by a strong contestant. He shot me down with an attack and then rushed to finish me. I tried to defend myself, but he was too powerful and I was easily overwhelmed. When I came to, I was already trapped."

"Who attacked you?" Mienfoo asked worriedly, stepping forward to help support the Pokémon when he had begun to fall over.

"I… I don't remember clearly," Elgyem answered as he struggled to return to his feet and then began to walk towards a nearby stone which he could sit on, "it all happened really fast. I recall a flash of white… and being really cold. So cold…" The Pokémon fell silent and shuddered.

Mienfoo listened to these words and shook his head in disgust. To think that there were still other cruel Pokémon like Krokorok and Blitzle in this tournament. Opening the tube still strapped to his shoulder, Mienfoo pulled out the canister given to him by Throh. "Drink this," he instructed, "it will make you feel better."

The Pokémon did so cautiously, and his weariness seemed to fade as he drank it with increasing speed. Upon finishing it, he grunted in shock to discover that he could once again stand and walk without stumbling from the pain of his injuries and lack of energy. "Incredible!" Elgyem said, breathing excitedly. "I never knew that there were such powerful rejuvenative teas in existence. I didn't think I would be able to move like this for at least a day! Please, friend; I must repay you for this. Is there anything I can do for you?"

"Not really," Mienfoo chuckled as he scratched the back of his head, having smiled at being called 'friend'. Then, he noticed the sun to begin to set, shining a brilliant orange in the sky to their west, and sighed. "Not unless you could somehow get us to the destination in the next two hours."

Elgyem stopped to stare at him blankly for a moment, and then turned to carefully inspect the far-reaching rough terrain to their east. "Such an act would not be implausible with my abilities," he finally answered in a matter-of-fact tone, bringing the three multicolor digits on his hand up to caress his chin in thought.

Mienfoo's smile faded in surprise upon hearing Elgyem's reply and he turned to face him at a loss for words. "Wha-" he began, only to be interrupted when a stream of glowing pink psychic energy shot out of the black symmetrical lines on the psychic Pokémon's large forehead and formed a wide, thick ring around them.

"Let us go," Elgyem spoke in a monotonous voice as the circle of energy split into two smaller ones which quickly enveloped each of them and shrank until coming to a stop around their hips. Upon raising his arms to clap his hands together, the rings slowly rose through the air with their respective targets in tow.

Mienfoo stared in shock at the ground slowly growing further and further from the soles of his feet before glancing at the gray Pokémon. Confidently, he nodded and Elgyem extended his arm towards him. The moment they made contact, psychic energy surged through into the mustelid's body and they both soared up even higher.

Then, Elgyem closed his green eyes in concentration and they shot forward through the sky opposite the setting sun. Mienfoo stared down in awe at the thousands of massive stone hills pass beneath their feet, feeling as if he were standing still on a high bridge watching a river of stones flowing rapidly below as a strong wind blew vigorously against his fur. Within several minutes, they could both see the edge of the massive region in the distance ahead.

Upon coming closer, Mienfoo's view of the area beyond the Rough Lands gradually became clearer. In the narrow flatlands between the two regions, he could see a beaten trail running from the north and then turn sharply eastwards into a large, leafy forest. Thinking back to the last time he had looked at the map given to him at the start of the challenge, he guessed that this was one of the trails leading to their destination.

Suddenly and without warning, the two began to rapidly lose altitude. Before long, Elgyem had carefully brought them down to land with a blunt thud on the trail just in front of the forest and then fell to the ground in exhaustion. "I must apologize," he told Mienfoo, his monotonous, robotic voice sounding even more drawn out as he panted heavily. "Advanced levitation is very tiring. I do not think I can bring us any further."

"Don't be sorry," Mienfoo answered kindly, struggling to keep his sheer excitement under control, "we can walk the rest of the way and still make it." After having been on the brink of failure, a miraculous stroke of luck had given him another opportunity to succeed and rejoin the rest of his team. There was no way he would let that opportunity go to waste.

After helping the cerebral Pokémon to his feet and making sure he was alright, Mienfoo hurried down the path with him as quickly as they could manage. For more than half an hour, they hurried down the winding forest trail; guided by the light of the setting sun seeping through the treetops surrounding them. As they moved, the two gradually picked up speed in their anxious excitement. After some time, however, Elgyem stopped suddenly.

"What's the matter?" Mienfoo perplexingly asked as he slowed down and looked back at Elgyem's widened, horrified face. Upon speaking, he noticed a faint mist emerge from his mouth and he suddenly realized just how frigid the air was. Having just been standing beneath the searing sun in the Rough Lands, he was bewildered at how the temperature had managed to drop so quickly. It shouldn't be possible.

Then he heard the sound of twigs being crushed by heavy feet in the trees behind him. Turning around, he found himself staring at the belly of an enormous white-furred figure.

"What have we here?" the towering Beartic spoke with a scowl, revealing a row of deadly white fangs above a beard of sharp icicles as it stepped around him. "I thought I recognized your scent," it said with a vicious growl as it glared at Elgyem with its cruel, ireless black eyes. "Do I really have to put you in your place again?"

Elgyem stepped backwards, trembling. "You… it was you…" he said, his humdrum, toneless voice drowned out by unmistakable terror. Before making it far, he tripped over his feet and fell into the dirt.

The bear smirked at the small Pokémon's reaction and began to move towards him, only for Mienfoo to jump in the way. "Don't worry; I'll take care of you after I'm done with him," it spoke, staring down at him like a ferocious giant preparing to step on a harmless, dying roach, "or would you rather go first?"

Mienfoo didn't as much as blink as he stared up at the monstrous bear, clenching his teeth and giving off an angry glare. "You're the one who attacked Elgyem before, and left him for dead like that?" he asked unfalteringly. Anger on behalf of his newfound friend surged through him, but that was not the only reason he stood so firmly. He had been through so much during this round, and there was no way he was going to let himself and his friend be stopped now that he knew that there was a chance at passing.

"So what if I am?" the Beartic answered, opening its mouth threateningly to reveal its many sharp teeth. "I did that to a bunch of other contestants, too. What are you going to do about it?" Without waiting for an answer, Beartic threw back its head and then brought it forward to unleash a powerful gust of chilling wind from its mouth that came down and exploded to blow Mienfoo backwards. Before he could stand, the bear rushed forward to slam him further away with a long, but bulky and powerful arm.

Rolling to his feet, Mienfoo quickly raised his paws to take on defensive stance. "Why are you doing this?" he asked in an irate yell. "And aren't you a little old to be participating in the tournament for kids?"

Beartic laughed. "Because you're the enemy," he answered gruffly, as if it should have been obvious. "The less competition there is, the easier this tournament will be." After taking a deep breath, he exhaled cold air onto his claws to coat them with a clear, deadly-sharp ice and extend their reach. "As for my age, the rules say eighteen and under. I'm eighteen." With his new frigid claws in place, he once again came forward to strike Mienfoo- who slid beneath his legs and came up to deliver a jumping kick to the back.

Beartic's size of almost eight feet kept him from losing balance and allowed him to twist his body around to slam his attacker to the ground with an open palm. As Mienfoo attempted to crawl backwards, he breathed out a stream of chilled air to cover the earth in a layer of solid ice. Then, he jumped up and came down to shatter the ground with his massive claws.

Mienfoo stood and ran back to escape the blow, but a sharpened icicle shot out of the resulting dust cloud like a spear to pierce him in the arm the moment he looked back. Again, he fell to the ground, biting his lip in a futile attempt to ignore the pain.

As the small Pokémon laid on the ground, struggling to remove the icicle from his flesh, the bear slowly stepped towards him then briefly glanced at the sky, which had unknowingly now slipped into a black dusk lit only by the moon and stars above. "There's not much time left," he said with a cocky smirk spread across his face as he raised a massive white claw, "so I'll finish this real quick."

"Stop that!" Elgyem screamed from behind as an invisible psychic energy took hold of the bear, lifted him briefly off the ground, and hurled him into a nearby tree trunk. When the bear stood and stared back at him, he gulped bravely and took a step forward. "If Mienfoo can stand and fight you, then I can as well," he said, still trembling as he returned the bear's gaze. "I won't run."

After getting back up, the bear walked towards Elgyem, snarling. "You've got a death wish?" In response, Elgyem unleashed a beam of multicolored energy that shot forward and exploded to make him stumble back a little. In an instant, Beartic had shaken off the damage and prepared to rush towards the attacker, but stopped when he felt something amiss then turned to see that Mienfoo had pulled the icicle out of his arm, rushed forward, and leaped upwards to stare at him at eyelevel, giving him an cold, unforgiving death glare. The bear did not even have a moment to react as a powerful sphere of swirling blue energy was unleashed from the mustelid's palm into his cheek and slammed him into the ground with explosive force.

Before the dust had settled, Mienfoo already knew that such a powerful opponent would not be downed so easily and brought his hands together to form another, far larger Aura Sphere. After taking a deep breath, he slammed the mass of aura into the fallen bear as well- producing an even greater, more violent explosion that shook the earth, made the surrounding trees tremble, and even blew his own ally off his feet. When the dust finally did settle, he stood victoriously atop Beartic's dirt-stained, unconscious body.

After lowering his head to catch his breath, he turned to call out to Elgyem. "Let's get a move on," he said urgently as he shared a faint warm smile, "we don't have long."

Elgyem stared disbelievingly at the fallen Beartic until finally giving off a relieved chuckle. "I'm glad I met you," he then said, looking back at Mienfoo admirably. "But yes, lets."

More than half an hour had passed before the trail Mienfoo and Elgyem were traveling on opened up into a massive clearing in the forest, within which they could see a small town filled with numerous large, wooden buildings, each giving off an unpleasant musky scent from age. Before they could set foot inside the clearing, however, a painful cracking sound filled the air as a big, floating white figure surrounded by a greenish goo-like substance - a Reuniclus - teleported before them in a sudden flash of light.

"Congratulations," the adult spoke cheerfully, "your arrival here in Centerton means that you have successfully completed Round One of the Queen's Tournament! And not a moment too soon either! If you had come ten minutes later, I would have had no choice but to disqualify you."

Mienfoo laughed in pure delight and Elgyem sighed. After all that they had gone through, they were both undeniably relieved to have succeeded in passing the round in the end.

"I have already recorded all necessary information, so now I will show you to the nearest dining hall where you will be able to have dinner and then select your own quarters afterwards," Reuniclus continued once the two had calmed down, turning around to lead them into the town.

"I never knew that there was a town here," Mienfoo thought aloud as he inspected his surroundings, seeing no one else nearby. Having come from Western Uryus like most of the other contestants, he knew very little of the land's more untamed eastern half.

"More than a hundred years ago, Centerton was a very thriving port that was often travelled through by merchants going to and from the land of Kidala," Elgyem unexpectedly replied in a matter-of-fact tone with his usual monotonous voice, "but when sea travel became possible, most business moved to the gulf in Western Uryus and the town was quickly abandoned as a result. However, it is still maintained by the government, presumably for events like this."

"That's correct!" Reuniclus exclaimed upon hearing Elgyem's words. "Not many people know this region's history so well, I'm impressed!" Elgyem turned his head away shyly at the adult's praise.

Soon after, they had reached the dining hall- a large building with bright lights shining out its many windows- and began to walk towards the door. "This is Dining Hall D," he told them, "we've had a surprisingly large number of Pokémon pass the round, so we had to open up two extras. Still, there should still be something left to eat even at this hour. Once you've had your fill and the end of the round has been announced, you can contact an official about finding a cabin to stay in. We've placed first aid and plenty of other conveniences inside each one, so you should be able to recover a little before you turn in." After stepping in front of the door, he gave them a big smile. "I have other business to attend to, so I'll have to go now. Good luck to the both of you!"

Mienfoo and Elgyem both turned back to thank him and wave goodbye as he floated away before entering the building, which was lit by glowing lamps powered by bright, white-tinted psychic energy. Looking around, they found it to be rather packed, with hundreds of tough-looking contestants sitting and eating their meals at various long tables. Before they could go to receive some food from the adults handing it out at a table up front, however, a loud voice rang out from the crowd.

"MIENFOO!" the voice shouted, and a familiar face suddenly appeared to tackle him to the ground with a bone crushing hug.

"Scraggy!" Mienfoo replied happily, though he struggled to break free from the lizard's uncomfortable iron grip.

"Alright, you made it!" Timburr spoke excitedly as he, Pawniard, Darumaka, and Joltik rushed to greet him from between two long dining tables. "We were starting to worry that you wouldn't get here in time! Scraggy here missed you a lot, it seems."

"So it does," he replied as he managed to push Scraggy off then stepped forward to exchange greetings with the others. "This is Elgyem," he said, gesturing to the cerebral Pokémon still behind him, "there's no way I would have made it if it weren't for his help." Elgyem waved shyly.

The group all laughed; exchanging stories as the two new arrivals received their dinners and sat down. Mienfoo told them of everything that had happened since their separation at the hands of Krokorok; from his meeting with Throh to the fight with Beartic, and expressed shock upon learning that Scraggy had gone berserk when he was thrown away earlier. Though the topic of Krokorok's powerful unknown ally came up, they mainly focused on the excitement of their reunion rather than dwelling on it too much. Apart from that fight, the others had little difficulty reaching Centerton earlier that day – save for a few minor confrontations with others.

"I didn't expect this many Pokémon to make it here," Mienfoo said after the excitement of their reunion had begun to fade, eyeing all of the contestants seated at the tables surrounding them. The fact that this was only one of at least four dining halls further added to his surprise. "Just how many others are there?"

"Last I heard," Pawniard answered indifferently, his head lowered so as to avoid eye contact, "just under half of the contestants present at the beginning of Round One have successfully passed. That would be somewhere around twenty-five hundred. Most of them took southern routes, it seems."

Seeing the shocked look on Mienfoo's face, Timburr chuckled. "I know right? I found it hard to believe, too. I guess there's just a lot of skilled competition around. It is more fun that way though, right?"

"I suppose so," the mustelid answered as he returned to the surprisingly delicious brownish goop that comprised his meal. Though the idea of so much competition still troubled him, his journey through the Rough Lands had helped him further realize that winning the Golden Fruit wasn't what was most important to him - having fun while competing for it together with all his friends was far more satisfying. He was sure that the others felt similarly.

Within a few moments time, the dining hall's door slammed open as a massive white figure entered the building. Mienfoo's jaw dropped and Elgyem's eyes widened when they realized that this was the same Beartic they had defeated earlier. From the amount of damage the aura spheres had dealt from point-blank range, they hadn't expected the bear to wake up for at least half a day. The fact that he had been able to regain consciousness and make it here so quickly was stupefying to them. As if suddenly noticing the two familiar faces, the bear quickly turned to give them a terrifying, heart-stopping glare – and they both could not help but shudder in shock.

Fortunately, the bear averted his gaze and quietly moved to the opposite side of the building when Reuniclus entered through the door as well. "Attention everyone!" he shouted, making everyone fall quiet. "The last contestant has arrived, and the time limit has expired! Round One has now officially ended! Therefore, you are all now permitted to enter the cabins you picked out earlier to rest for the night. If anyone does not have one yet, please speak with me or another official once you're done eating so that we may find you one. I recommend that you all get a good night's sleep, as Round Two will begin at nine 'o' clock tomorrow morning!" Around half of the seated contestants cheered, but the rest, the more experienced, tougher looking crowd, remained dead silent. Once Reuniclus had fallen silent, most of the contestants quickly stood and began to exit the building in mass.

"Don't worry about finding any quarters," Joltik told Mienfoo and Elgyem, who were still not finished with their meals, from the small stool to their right he had crawled onto from the floor. "We managed to get a whole cabin for ourselves, and there's enough space for you two to stay there as well."

"Wonderful," Elgyem replied as he began to finish eating, though his discomfort at Beartic's sudden appearance still showed in his eyes.

After Mienfoo had explained who the Pokémon that had been staring at the two was, Timburr snorted. "Don't worry about him," he told Elgyem reassuringly as he attempted to look through the moving crowds of contestants to get a better look at the white bear on the other side of the hall, "if he tries to attack you during the next round, he'll have to go through all of us first." Joltik, Scraggy, and Darumaka immediately raised their voices in agreement and Elgyem acknowledged his gratitude with a slight nod.

When the topic of Beartic had finally faded and nearly all of the other contestants had exited the hall, Mienfoo placed his chin in his palms to think. "I wonder what the next round will be like?" he asked aloud calmly.

"Who knows?" Timburr answered with an eager smile. "It'll definitely be harder than the first one, though. I can barely wait!"

"Whatever it is," Joltik continued, "I think we can expect a challenge. We already know for a fact that there are some really strong contestants around that we'll inevitably have to go up against eventually. "

"And we'll be ready," Mienfoo spoke after a brief, awkward pause, finishing his meal and standing from the small wooden stool he had been sitting on a moment later. Everyone cheered at these words and quickly stood to make their way out of the dining hall towards their cabin, where they would be able to sleep peacefully for the rest of the night in preparation for the trials that would await them the next morning.

As the group walked through the town together, Pawniard hung behind and stared depressingly at Mienfoo's back. The memory of staring helplessly up at the sky as Krokorok threw him deep into the Rough Lands and then cruelly telling the others that they would have to leave him behind, all because they had taken the road he had half-heartedly suggested on a whim, flashed through his mind. His head hung low as he reminded himself that all of his friend's misfortunes were his fault.

…

_"Pelagius… run!" his father's voice echoed from in front of the infant knife Pokémon, who stood still in terror as a pair of demonic, murderous eyes belonging to a familiar, steel-skinned figure emerged from the darkness before him – the deadly sharp metal blades on its arms stained in the gray-tinted blood of his mother and siblings. "I said run!" his father yelled louder as he stepped between the two and raised the identical, though untainted blades on his own arms. The child snapped to his senses and took a step backwards, wet tears filling his eyes as he turned to run in the opposite direction, hearing the sound of his father's metal corpse hitting the stone floor with an echoing thud an instant later._

…

Everything was always his fault.

* * *

**A/N: That's the end of Chapter 4. Round 2 will be kicking off next, and Timburr will finally get some time in the limelight. Thanks for reading!**


	5. Chapter 5: Round Two

The cabin wasn't absurdly big, with one small bedroom with two bunk beds, a living room, and a bathroom - obviously set up as one of many in order to accommodate the large numbers of people who came to Centerton - but they made do by having those without beds sleeping on the couch or the floor. Mienfoo, who ended up sleeping on the floor, didn't really mind after the long experience he had and just wanted to rest his body in preparation for the next day. Though the noisier Pokémon in their group attempted to stay up a little later and celebrate their success in the first round, they too quickly tired out and drifted to sleep. The next morning, sometime after the sun had begun to rise and warm light seeped through the cabin windows, Mienfoo felt a pair of strong hands grab his shoulder and begin to shake him awake.

"Hey! Wake up already!" the voice of the shaker said and the marsupial slowly opened his eyes to see Timburr kneeling beside him. Looking around, Mienfoo saw that the others were all already awake and, save for Darumaka and Joltik, had the wooden tubes containing their maps they had received at the start of the last round strapped over their shoulders and ready to go. "You had a tough couple days," Timburr continued as he sat up, rubbing his eyes, "so we let you sleep in a bit. We should get going to the dining hall for breakfast soon, though."

"Thanks," Mienfoo replied with a grateful tone as he stood up and stretched, finding his muscles and body to now feel completely relaxed and refreshed after a good night's sleep. Excitedly, he clenched his paws in front of his face before going to retrieve his own tube, slinging it over his shoulder as he went to follow the others out the door and through the streets of Centerton towards Dining Hall D where there were a still a number of contestants gathered to eat breakfast inside.

After filling their stomachs, they continued on into Centerton's town square, a large and grassy open area in the middle of the town with yet another stage set up in front of a large, town hall-like building. In the square, most of the contestants, easily numbering at around 2500, had already gathered, and, within a few minutes, Queen Meloetta had emerged from the large building to address them all once again. Mienfoo and his friends, unlike before, found a good spot near the front of the crowd where they could listen to her speech more clearly from up close.

"Congratulations, my children," Meloetta began, raising her arms in greeting, "your presence here means that you have all been deemed worthy of moving on in the tournament!" A few cheers spread through the crowd, but they were not quite as loud as they were the other day. Mostly, everyone stayed silently to listen intently for the queen's explanation of the upcoming round. "Before I speak about the next round," she continued after a brief pause, "I feel that it is important to inform you that everyone who did not arrive in time last night has been safely led or are in the process of being led back to Royal City." She paused to let those words sink in, though there was no response.

"Well then," the queen continued, "I suppose you are all eager to begin the Second Round?" The contestants' cheering briefly resumed. "First, I will say that after this speech, you will each be given a sheet of parchment listing three of a possible fifteen items: some easy to find, some difficult. Each of these items may be found somewhere in the large forest surrounding this town or the regions surrounding it. The maps you received the other day list the locations of each area where an item can be found, and, in order to pass this round, you must retrieve all three of your listed items and return here with them. There is no time limit, but only the first one-thousand contestants to finish will be permitted to continue on. Besides that, there are no particular rules limiting you; how you go about gathering these items is up to you."

A few hushed whispers of discussion swept through the crowd as they heard this explanation before Meloetta raised her voice to continue. "On the outskirts of the town, several stands have been set up where you may go to receive the parchments containing your target items. Once you have received them, you may immediately begin. That is all, and I hope to see you all giving it your best. Good luck to each and every one of you!"

As she finished her speech, the crowd began to quickly disperse with most of the contestants within it moving to locate one of the stands where they could receive their lists. "A scavenger hunt, eh?" Joltik said with a pondering look as the group moved together towards the outskirts of town, quickly finding themselves in a long line of contestants waiting their turn to be issued a list. "I guess it sounds interesting…"

"Let's blow through this test!" Timburr quickly added with an eager tone, to which Darumaka and Scraggy cheered in agreement.

"We should think about how we're going to gather our items, though…" Pawniard then said as he stared blankly at the ground in thought. "The Queen said that we could do so however we wanted… do we go to each location and gather them normally, do we wait and try to steal items from others who have already gathered them, or should we gather a lot of items of a certain kind and attempt to trade them for others that are of more useful to us? There's bound to be contestants following each of those methods."

"Of course we gather them ourselves!" Timburr replied irritably as Pawniard finished. "That's how Scavenger Hunts normally work, right? We'll pass this test with our own power!" Again, Darumaka and Scraggy quickly cheered in agreement. Mienfoo and Elgyem both nodded their approval and Pawniard dropped the subject a few moments before the line to the stand finally dwindled to the point where they were next.

"So, seven is it?" a familiar voice said as Mienfoo and the others stepped up to it, who all looked up to see a floating white figure coated in a greenish gel standing on the other side of the stand and writing in a book with a quill as he looked down at them.

"Mr. Reuniclus!" Mienfoo exclaimed as he saw the adult, recognizing him as the official who he had met the night before upon arriving.

The Reuniclus laughed cheerfully upon noticing him. "It's _Sir_ Reuniclus Calatar, actually," he said with a chuckle. "Though Mister's fine too, I suppose. Just give me your names then I'll write them down and give you your lists. It won't matter if you lose them since we'll have you listed with your target items here. You kids should do your best and make it through this round, alright? I'll be rooting for you."

"Thanks, and we will," Mienfoo replied with a soft smile, to which the others all quickly spoke up in agreement. A moment later, they had all given Reuniclus their names and received the parchments listing their target items. Before looking at them, Pawniard led the group a ways into the forest surrounding the town then sat down under the shade of several large trees to discuss how they would continue.

"Let's start by reviewing the items we need to collect," Pawniard instructed. "Then we can use the maps we received the other day to locate them and create an ideal route. Everyone show me your lists." Pawniard began by setting his paper on the ground with the blunt sides of his knife-hands for the others to see, and they all soon did the same. Each list also noted the location where the items could be found.

_Pawniard's List:_

_-Braviary Feather (Rough Lands; Adelaar Village)_

_-Fire Stone (Tirupt Volcano)_

_-Leaf Stone (Moss Cave)_

_Mienfoo's List:_

_-Fire Stone (Tirupt Volcano)_

_-Tirupt Miner's Helmet (Tirupt Mines)_

_-Jaku Flower (Jaku Flower Fields)_

_Timburr's List:_

_-Water Stone (Sk'lear Lake)_

_-Jaku Flower (Jaku Flower Fields)_

_-Leaf Stone (Moss Cave)_

_Elgyem's List:_

_-Syron Nut (Tower Woods)_

_-Braviary Feather (Rough Lands; Adelaar Village)_

_-Sweetgreen Berry (Sweetgreen Berry Patch)_

_Joltik's List:_

_-Fire Stone (Tirupt Volcano)_

_-Syron Nut (Tower Woods)_

_-Braviary Feather (Rough Lands)_

_Scraggy's List:_

_-Leaf Stone (Moss Cave)_

_-Water Stone (Sk'lear Lake)_

_-Sweetgreen Berry (Sweetgreen Berry Patch)_

_Darumaka's List:_

_-Jaku Flower (Jaku Flower Fields)_

_-Tirupt Miner's Helmet (Tirupt Mines)_

_-Syron Nut (Tower Woods)_

Pawniard thought silently as he inspected each list and his map. "Altogether, we have eight different items to retrieve, and they're all spread out throughout the region. If we want to speed things up, splitting into smaller groups may be the best option." Mienfoo, Joltik, and Elgyem all quickly saw the logic in this and agreed, while the others followed along before Pawniard continued.

"From the looks of the map, the locations of each item are in three general directions- North, South, and West- so three groups should suffice. As for who should be in each group, it doesn't matter all that much. However, Elgyem's Telekinesis would be helpful to the group going west for the feathers in the Rough Lands."

For several minutes, they discussed and argued over possible team setups. Finally, they were able to come to an agreement. Pawniard, Elgyem, and Scraggy would head generally west through the forest towards the Sweetgreen Berry Patch, the Moss Cave, and then into the Rough Lands. Mienfoo and Joltik would move far to the south of the Centerton Forest towards the Tirupt Volcano and its adjacent mining town. Since Darumaka refused to leave Timburr's side, they would go north together towards the Sk'lear Lake then the Tower Woods in the northern parts of the Centerton Forest and then to the Jaku Flower Fields which were just north of it.

Having decided on where they would all go, the group knew that they would have to split up from the very start and planned to meet up in the same place once they had gathered everything. "Good luck," Mienfoo said softly as he and Joltik began to walk down a forest trail leading south.

"See you guys later," Timburr replied with a confident grin as he carried Darumaka in the opposite direction, "and don't worry, we'll get through this."

"Godspeed, everyone," Pawniard said coldly as he turned to move west and they all parted ways. Within minutes, each of the three groups lost sight of one another, but they all pushed forward- ready for their next adventure.

* * *

Krokorok sat silently in the depths of the forest surrounding Centerton, resting his back against a thick tree trunk. A look of boredom was obvious in his eyes and he sighed tiredly. Suddenly, two dark shadows shot out of the leafy treetops above him and landed softly on the ground before him without so much as a single sound.

"We've retrieved every item on the list," Weavile spoke, walking up to hand him a small sack.

"Already?" Krokorok asked as he stood and moved towards them, taking the sack and peeking inside. "It's barely been an hour, and even the fastest contestants would need at least four!"

"I told you," the bipedal weasel replied harshly, "we're professionals. Comparing us to a bunch of talented runts is an insult. Now, I would suggest you hide out for a few more hours before returning so as to not arouse suspicion."

Krokorok sighed irritably as if about to complain, but held his tongue and slung the sack over his shoulder, turning around to return to his seated position. Halfway there, however, he seemed to change his mind and turned back around with a scowl. "Why won't you let me participate? Bisharp himself told me that if I could take out the competition early on then it would prove beneficial to us, but you're keeping me sheltered like this. Let me prove myself!"

Weavile tsked. "You had the chance to prove yourself the other day, but you failed miserably. All that tells me is that you're too weak to be trusted to come out on top in such situations, and you're role in the plan is too important. We cannot risk losing you."

Opposite him, Krokorok seemed to tremble in irritation, his fists clenched angrily. Slowly he opened his mouth to respond. "I… can be more useful than just that… I have to… my fathe-"

"-enough," Weavile interrupted. "This isn't open for debate."

Looking back at him, Krokorok grit his teeth. "Fine," he replied under his breath as he turned around and began to head back to the tree to sit down once more.

"Accelgor will be keeping watch over you until then," Weavile continued as the figure next to him moved towards the crocodile and he turned back around to walk away in the opposite direction.

"What about you?" Krokorok asked with a surprised glance as he saw this. "Where are you going?"

Weavile turned his head slightly to glare back at him and answered coldly. "I'm going to eliminate the competition. In my own way."

* * *

For more than three hours, Timburr and Darumaka weaved their way northwards through the vast forests surrounding Centerton. Although they occasionally came across other contestants, they always parted ways quickly and thus their journey was mostly spent in solitude. By the beginning of the fourth hour, it was clear that Timburr's boredom had reached critical levels.

"Ugh… just how far is this lake, anyways?" he asked, fumbling with the map in his hands. "Are we even going the right way?" Darumaka cried out happily in response, and he looked back at her. "You're no help." Soon after, he began to laugh to let her know that he was joking, and she quickly joined in.

Fortunately, they did not have to go further. Within a few more minutes, they had stumbled into a massive clearing in the forest to find an immense pond. They gazed in awe at its magnificence. The water was so clear and pure that they could not only see the fish swimming inside, but also every stone sitting still in its depths. Thinking back to before they had all split up, Timburr remembered Elgyem telling him that the 'Sk'lear' in Sk'lear Lake was short for 'Sky Clear'; called so for being as clear as the blue sky.

After gazing at it for a bit, they noticed that there was a crowd of contestants gathered on a dock on the pond's opposite shore, but did not pay much attention to them. Darumaka excitedly rushed to dive in, but quickly got out and rushed back to her friend, shivering.

"Fire types aren't good with water, I guess," he told her, laughing before pointing at himself boastfully. "Don't worry; I'll do all the swimming. I think Elgyem said something about Water Stones forming at the bottom."

After setting down his wooden block, Timburr walked waist deep into the water. "Here goes nothing," he said before taking a deep breath. The instant before he was able to dive down, however, a rapidly spinning hard shell shot out of the water a few meters ahead of him to slam into him and knock him backwards. "What was that?" Timburr yelled, stepping into shallower water. "Who are you?"

The shell came to a stop on the shore to his side, and a blue-green, bipedal turtle-like Pokémon with a squirrel tail emerged from it. "This lake is now the territory of the Squirtle Squad!" the foreigner shouted. "Only those who ally themselves beneath us will be given a Water Stone for the Scavenger Hunt!"

Darumaka looked at the Squirtle in confusion, but Timburr scowled. "I don't care about that," he replied angrily as he began to dash towards the turtle, "just get out of my way before I break off that shell of yours and boil you as soup in it!"

The Squirtle responded by spitting a stream of cold water into his face. Then, as he stumbled backwards, it returned to its shell and spun into his legs to make him collapse into the water.

Managing to stand, Timburr rushed out of the water to retrieve his weapon, but the Squirtle managed to strike him with its shell again before he was able to balance his stance. Once he finally had, he swung his wooden block into the oncoming turtle like a bat and sent it skipping across the lake with a single strike. "Home run!" he yelled, raising his fist victoriously in the air.

As Darumaka cheered him on, his gaze shifted to the crowd on the other bank. "Let's check out whatever's going on over there," he continued seriously before walking quickly around the lake's shore. Along the way, they noticed several Squirtles eyeing him cautiously from underwater.

Upon arriving, the two pushed their way through the gathered crowd until reaching the end of the dock, where a somewhat larger, darker-blue turtle Pokémon with fangs, fluffy ears, and a fluffy tail stood bossing around others. The turtle barked orders to everyone around him, and when a small, barely 8 inch tall blue and cream colored tadpole like Pokémon attempted to hop past him and into the water, he ferociously kicked it backwards.

Timburr stepped forward to catch the Tympole. "What's the big idea?" he yelled angrily as he set down the gracious Pokémon. "If you don't let everyone here through right now, you're gonna regret it!"

The large turtle turned towards him and smirked as two Squirtle jumped out of the water to back him up. "Got a problem?" he asked in an intimidating tone while he signaled the Squirtle to detain him. "I'm Wartortle, leader of the Squirtle Squad. Back in our homeland of Kidala, we're famed as one of the toughest groups of kids around and we came all the way here to Uryus to win this tournament and prove it." The two Squirtle came near Timburr and grabbed onto each of his arms. "Tell you what; we'll give you a Water Stone if you agree to become our underling."

Timburr scowled in response. "I don't think so," he replied just before bringing his arms together to slam the two Squirtle into each other to loosen their grip and then quickly push them both off of the pier. "Now you're in for it," he continued, smiling confidently while walking forward and cracking his knuckles. Darumaka stood behind him, cheering excitedly in support.

At this action, Wartortle glared angrily at the approaching Pokémon. "A tough guy, huh?" he growled. When Timburr came forward to attack, he jumped back to dodge. "There's no need to resort to violence, now," he said with a shrug. "I'm a reasonable person, so why don't we settle this with a little game? If you win, I'll give you a Water Stone and you can go on your way. If I win, you have to agree to serve under me."

Timburr stopped and considered this preposition. "That's not enough. If I win, you have to promise to give everyone here a stone and apologize for holding them up!" he soon exclaimed in response.

"Sure, why not?" Wartortle answered with a twisted smile. "Are we agreed then?"

"Of course," he continued with an excited tone, "no take backs!"

Wartortle stepped forward and motioned for several Squirtle to come onto the pier. "Alright then," he said, almost laughing, "the game will be a timed competition. Whoever retrieves the most Water Stones from the bottom of the lake in ten minutes wins, ok?" Timburr quickly agreed, dropped his weapon, and walked towards the edge of the dock in preparation. The crowd of contestants cheered him on from behind.

"Are you sure a going up against a Water-type like this is a good idea?" one Pokémon in the crowd asked worriedly as he prepared to dive.

Timburr shrugged. "What's the worst that could happen," he replied just before a nearby Squirtle signaled for them to begin and they both dived into the water. After using his strong arm muscles to propel himself to the center of the lake, Timburr glanced down at the depths below, and quickly spotted several glittering blue stones on the bottom. He immediately attempted to go deeper, but was stopped short when Wartortle retracted into his shell and slammed into him with a fast Rapid Spin to the gut, knocking the air out of his lungs.

"You can't beat me here, stupid!" the turtle laughed, his voice muffled by the water, as he continued downwards to retrieve a stone while Timburr rushed back to the surface for air.

"You'll pay for that!" he shouted when his head was above the water before breathing in and diving down once more. As he swam, he soon noticed at least five Squirtle circling him.

"Take him down," Wartortle ordered, and the Squirtle immediately began to bombard him with a series of Rapid Spins.

Ignoring the pain, Timburr kept an eye on the bigger turtle below until a rapid spin came at him from behind. After dodging around it, he grabbed onto the shell, stopped its spinning, and used the forward momentum to hitch a ride. After coming closer to Wartortle, he let go and raised his knee to strike him dead on in the back of the head to send him swishing away. He then proceeded to retrieve a stone that the turtle dropped and pick up another from the ground before kicking the bottom of the lake to propel himself upwards as fast as possible.

As he swam, Wartortle looked up at him bitterly before returning to his shell and spinning quickly in place to generate a whirlpool that sucked the fighting-type back down. "You can't win if you can't breathe," he said in a malicious tone as he exited the whirlpool and looked up at him from below.

Struggling to break free of the whirlpool, Timburr pumped his arms repeatedly and his lungs soon ran out of oxygen. After falling still for a moment, his determination to win gave him a powerful adrenaline rush and he managed to force his way out of its reach before swimming to the surface. After taking a deep breath, he threw the stones to the shore with all his strength and then dived back down. Again, Wartortle came at him with a sudden Rapid Spin, but he managed to catch it as it struck.

They both lost momentum when the Rapid Spin was caught, and were both soon sucked back into the still-raging whirlpool. Separating himself from Timburr, Wartortle swam ahead of him a little and then turned to give off an angry glare. They quickly rushed towards each other and continued their fight within the vortex.

* * *

From the dock, the other contestants stared in awe at the two's underwater battle, the clearness of the water making it easy to see what was going on. So intriguing was it that no one took notice when a massive white-furred figure emerged from the forest behind them and slowly walked towards the pier. One Squirtle, however, eventually spotted the figure and went forward to stop him. "This lake is the territory of the Squirtle Squad!" the Squirtle exclaimed, stepping in front of the large figure. "Only our allies are permitted to retrieve Water Stones from its depths."

Beartic scowled angrily at the tiny Pokémon, which shivered in fear when it met his gaze. Before the Squirtle could take a step back, the bear brought its leg up to kick the front of the turtle's shell with enough force to send it flying backwards into the center of the lake. At this point, everyone else on the dock noticed the bear's actions and turned to stare at him as he moved towards them. They all stood frozen as the bear trudged onto the pier and directly past them. After glaring into the clear waters, Beartic leaped high into the air, did a flip, and then dived down into its depths.

"And just who are you?" Wartortle asked as the bear came between him and Timburr within the whirlpool. Unable to speak underwater, unlike the Water-type, Beartic simply glared back at him silently. Irritated, the turtle returned to its shell and attempted to strike him with another Rapid Spin. Before the attack struck, however, Beartic raised his claw to quickly slam Wartortle up out of the water and more than five meters into the air.

Timburr stared at the new arrival in surprise, recognizing him from both Mienfoo's description and from the time when he entered the dining hall the night before. Preparing for a fight, he managed to swim out of the whirlpool. Having run out of a lot of breath by this point, Timburr was able to sink to and stand on the bottom of the lake without floating up thanks to both that and his thick muscles. From there, he took on a fighting stance as Beartic swam towards him.

Before he could make a move, Beartic swam forward with astounding speed and came to a stop right to his side before hurling him away with a single swing of its claw. The bear followed by swimming towards him and lifting him up with his claws, stepping into shallower water and then the shore so that they could both breath and speak.

"You were speaking with that Mienfoo and Elgyem in the Dining Hall last night, weren't you?" he asked in a ferocious tone. "What is your relationship with them?"

"They're my friends," Timburr answered without hesitation, trying to catch his breath while also staring back at the bear with a rebellious look.

The bear tsked before throwing the young Pokémon to the side, sending him tumbling a small distance. "Tell them that I will crush them soon enough," he called out as he turned back towards the lake and prepared to dive back in. Suddenly, a fireball shot out at him from his side, and he just barely managed to sidestep out of the way in time. Turning his head, he could see that the fireball's source was none other than Darumaka, who gave him an angry look.

From the other direction, Timburr trudged back towards him. "You just told me that you were going to go after our friends," he said while panting. "As if we'd let you leave just like that." Meanwhile, across the lake, Wartortle and the Squirtle Squad seemed to be evacuating into the forest in fear of the bear's strength.

"You've got guts," Beartic replied with a neutral tone, neither friendly nor angry, "but they're going to get you hurt at some point."

Timburr laughed. "You sound like Pawniard!" he exclaimed as he rushed forward with his fists raised. On the other side, Darumaka cloaked itself in flame and charged forward as well. Beartic stepped back when they both came near and attempted to bring Timburr down with another swing of his claw, only for him to duck beneath it and come forward to strike his knee. This one attack made the bear stumble long enough for Darumaka to get beneath him and then come up with a brutal Flare Blitz to the chin.

Before the two could celebrate their success, the fallen Beartic stood back up and snarled. "If that's all you've got," he said, "then this will be simple." Opening his jaw, he unleashed a blast of cold air that traveled forward to strike Darumaka, coating her in a thick layer of ice and freezing her in place. Timburr bit his lip in anger as the bear walked towards his frozen friend before rushing forward to cut him off. Swinging his fists, he attempted to strike the enemy but was quickly knocked to the ground by a single swipe of Beartic's massive arm.

"Know your place," Beartic continued as he lifted his foot above Timburr and then brought it down to crush him into the ground.

As the bear's foot came down, Timburr raised his arms to catch it over his head. "Know YOUR place!" he exclaimed as he struggled to push it upwards and stand tall. When Beartic returned his leg to the ground and attempted to regain balance, he leapt upwards to strike him in the center of the chest with a brilliantly delivered DynamicPunch.

Beartic again stumbled back in pain, but soon regained balance and roared ferociously in the air before rushing forward to hit him back. However, behind Timburr, the ice around Darumaka began to melt and evaporate rapidly as a powerful flamethrower soon shot out of her mouth to slam into the charging bear, which collapsed into the lake water.

The two small Pokémon began to pant as the bear once again returned to its feet. As he stepped back out of the water, a glitter caught his eye and he bent down to notice two Water Stones laying on the ground before his feet- the same two that Timburr had thrown out of the lake earlier. Bending down, he picked one up and inspected it. Satisfied, Beartic buried it in his massive paw before turning back to his two opponents, and opening his jaw to unleash a powerful ball of compressed icy air. The ball traveled forward to strike the ground between Timburr and Darumaka, then exploded with incredible force to send them both flying a small distance and cover the area in a blanket of snow and ice.

Beginning to walk back towards the forest, Beartic glanced back at Timburr. "I've got what I came for, so I'll be on my way," he said with a snarl. "Be warned, however, the next time we cross paths will be the last." With that said, Beartic continued into the forest, although a painful limp caused by the damage he took from their attacks was very noticeable with every step he took.

As he moved out of sight, Timburr stood up and sighed in disappointment. It took all of his willpower to keep from going after Beartic, but he knew deep down that they had other matters to attend to and that they took priority. They couldn't let their friends down by arriving too late with the Scavenger Hunt items. "Next time we meet," he said to Darumaka bitterly, "we'll be ready."

"Darumaka!" she replied happily, almost completely forgetting the seriousness of the preceding events.

After resting for a few moments, they moved back to the pier where the other Pokémon had watched the fight in shock. It was about this time that Wartortle and the Squirtle Squad returned to it as well from their hiding place in the surrounding forests. Wartortle gave Timburr an odd, cautious look before speaking up. "I don't know what just happened, but now that that Beartic is gone, we can continue. Remember, if you lose you've got to become my underling."

"Hold on," one of the contestants on the pier, the Tympole Timburr had helped earlier, spoke courageously, "you all ran away when that giant attacked, but he stayed to fight it off! If anything, you should become his underling!" Wartortle glared at the tadpole Pokémon angrily, and it quickly fell silent.

"That doesn't matter," Timburr responded with a determined look present on his face as he cracked his knuckles impatiently, "let's just get this over with." Though he was hurt, Timburr was not about to back down so easily.

Wartortle looked back at him for a moment and then sighed. After taking a large sack from an adjacent Squirtle, he dumped its contents- a large number of Water Stones- onto the ground. "Just take them," he said coldly before turning around and leading his squad away.

Everyone immediately fell to their knees and eagerly dug in, but Timburr stood still in shock. "What about our game?" he asked with a shout.

"Forget about it," the turtle replied as they all disappeared from view. Timburr stared disappointedly in his direction for several minutes before turning around and picking up three Water Stones; one for him, one for Scraggy, and then one extra to hold onto just in case.

"Let's get a move on," he told Darumaka. "We still have two more places to go." She cheered in reply and they continued on to the northeast, where their next destination, the Tower Woods could be found according to Pawniard's assessment of the map.

Meanwhile, the Squirtle Squad trekked slowly westward through the forest. "Drop out of the tournament?" one Squirtle asked their leader in confusion. "Why?"

Wartortle shivered. "That Beartic," he answered in a submissive tone, "was terrifying. If we have to go up against more Pokémon like him, we won't stand a chance. Though, honestly, I can't imagine there being anyone in the tournament stronger than him."

….

Had Wartortle not decided to resign right then and there, he would have undoubtedly come to realize just how wrong he was.

* * *

Elsewhere, three large figures steadily walked side by side down a wide dirt road in the middle of the vast forest surrounding Centerton. On one side was a bison-like Pokémon with distinctive large horns and a black afro between them. On the other was a large, red and blue, draconic Pokémon with rough, spiky skin and wings that were dwarfed by the rest of its bulky body. Between those two was a lean, man-shaped Pokémon with rocky blue skin and a white and black martial arts outfit complete with a dark belt around his waist.

Suddenly, the one in the center- the leader- stopped in place and gazed outwards with a cold, emotionless stare. "Who's there?" he asked in an indifferent tone, and was soon answered as a short, dark-skinned Pokémon with bright red feathers and a stern-looking face stepped out onto the trail a few meters ahead of the group before turning to face them.

"I am Weavile," the dark figure replied gruffly as he studied them with his sharp eyes.

The blue figure in the center raised his eyebrow curiously. "And what is an adult like yourself doing here? This is the Queen's Tournament; surely the government cleared the area beforehand?"

Weavile smirked. Slowly, he opened his mouth to respond in a dark, ominous voice. "_I have… a proposition for you."_


	6. Chapter 6: Adventures (Part 1)

Some time before Timburr and Darumaka's arrival at Sk'lear Lake, Pawniard, Scraggy, and Elgyem were nearing their first destination- a large berry patch located within a massive clearing in Centerton Forest which was one of the only places in all of Uryus where the rare and famously delicious Sweetgreen Berries were known to grow naturally. Using the labeled map they had been provided at the beginning of the first test, the three had managed to identify the location of the patch and find a forest trail which would lead directly to it.

As they came near the berry patch, the group slowed down in confusion upon noticing a group of other contestants running out of the area as if they were unusually eager to leave. Looks of horror and disgust were visible on all of their faces as they rushed past them. "Something's wrong," Pawniard thought aloud as he turned his head to watch them leave.

"Agreed," Elgyem replied while focusing his psychic powers through a form of meditation, "I feel something… dark… ahead." True to his nature, Scraggy did not seem to understand the situation; but remained quiet at Pawniard's insistence.

Upon entering the berry patch, they were all quickly overwhelmed by the foul, rotten odor which filled it. Doing their best to keep their lunches down, the group wandered in and began to inspect each bush for Sweetgreen berries-only to find something strange. Across the patch, numerous bare bushes laid on the ground as if some giant had pulled them out of the earth, stripped them of both berries and leaves, and then tossed aside what remained. So thorough was the giant's eating frenzy that not even a single berry remained within a twenty meter radius of where they were.

After a little investigation, they found that the terrible smell became worse deeper into the large berry patch. Going closer to investigate, they quickly noticed the giant responsible; a living, stout pile of trash around nine feet high with two large eyes and a wide mouth. With a disproportionately long right arm connected to its torso, the glutton easily uprooted bush after bush from the ground where it sat, stuck each one into its mouth, and then pulled it out while scraping the leaves and berries off with its teeth. It continued to eat like this nonstop, as if its stomach was some sort of bottomless pit that even the glutinous Scraggy could not hope to rival. In addition, Pawniard and Elgyem could both tell that this Pokémon was clearly an adult; far too old to be a contestant in the tournament.

As they attempted to get closer to the Pokémon, Scraggy stepped on a twig and it suddenly fell silent before turning to search for the source of the noise. Pawniard managed to pull the lizard to the ground behind a pile of already eaten bushes before it could see them. "We don't know if it's hostile or not," he whispered as the giant returned to its meal, "and there's still some berries on the other side. I'd rather not pick a needless fight, so let's try to go around it through the forest instead."

"Sounds reasonable," Elgyem replied and Pawniard promptly lead the group into the forest. They began to slowly and silently creep past the giant from afar, when they noticed a dark figure emerge from the opposite side towards it.

"Oi! Garbodor!" the new arrival, an adult monkey-like Pokémon with tan-and-black fur and spiky black hair between his two oversized ears, yelled in an upset tone. "What are you doin' here?" Pawniard stopped to listen in curiosity.

"Ah… Si... Simidark," Garbodor answered with a slow, dragged out voice as he looked down at his acquaintance, seeming to look up to him despite the fact that he was more than twice the simian's size. "Just… eating berries. They're good."

"WHAT DO I CARE!?" Simidark yelled, frustrated as he slowly plucked a Sweetgreen Berry from a nearby bush and prepared to throw it into his mouth. "I've been working my ass off all night to complete OUR mission, and here you are sitting down and eating BERRIES! You know, if Bisharp knew about this, you'd be screwed! You'd be done for in a heartbeat! MAYBE I SHOULD TELL HIM SO THAT I CAN GET AN ACTUALLY COMPETENT PART- hey they are good." After being pleased with the taste of the berry, he turned back to the bush and began to pluck more before stuffing handful after handful into his mouth while simultaneously continuing his angry reprimand. "Anyways, Bisharp's going to be pissed when he finds out that we still haven't finished our mission, and you know who's going to get yelled at? ME! But what do you care, you freaking glutton?" The massive Garbodor lowered his head in shame as Simidark continued to simultaneously stuff his mouth with berries and scold him.

Pawniard listened to every word of this conversation carefully. Although both of these adults were unquestionably strange, he could not help but feel that the Simidark was speaking of something important- though he could not piece together much from what he heard.

"Are you coming?" Elgyem whispered at him quietly from further ahead. Before Pawniard could respond, Simidark large ears suddenly perked upwards as if possessing a monstrous sense of hearing, causing him to fall silent in suspicion and then turn in their direction, swiping his arm to unleash a wave of black-tinted aura that traveled into the adjacent forest and blew them off their feet like a powerful gust of wind.

"Eavesdroppers, huh?" the simian spoke as he quickly closed the distance between them. "Just who are you?" he then asked in falsely intimidating tone as he stopped before Pawniard, pointing his index fingers at him loosely while angling his head upwards as if unsuccessfully attempting to look cool. Elgyem, not wanting to make matters worse, stopped dead upon getting up and noticing this situation. Scraggy, meanwhile, was still dazed from Simidark's attack and spun around uselessly away from the others.

Pawniard gulped irritably at being caught so easily, knowing better than to try combating an adult like this one who seemed far stronger than any child could hope to stand a chance against. Still, he couldn't appear weak and defenseless. "We are contestants in the Queen's Tournament, and one of our challenges for Round 2 is to retrieve some Sweetgreen Berries- which your friend here has been feasting on without end," he answered, struggling to remain calm as he raised his knives in a defensive manner. Despite the adult's awkwardness, he could feel a powerful and unmistakable killing intent coming from deep within him.

Simidark looked down at him seriously for a few moments before responding with a chuckle. "The tournament, eh? I forgot all about that!" Lowering his arms, he turned around and began to walk back to Garbodor. "Well, we were about to leave anyways, so don't let us get in your way!" he continued, waving in a dismissive, but friendly at them from behind.

The three were all silent in awe for a moment, until Pawniard finally spoke up. "Wait!" he exclaimed urgently. "Just who were you referring to when you spoke of 'Bisharp' earlier?"

Simidark turned back to give the Knife Pokémon a piercing glare. "That's none of your business, right?" Pawniard fell silent at these words, and the simian continued to move away. "C'mon you lazy pig!" he yelled at Garbodor. "Let's get moving!" Garbodor looked back at him in disappointment before picking up one last berry bush, consuming it, and standing up to follow in a slow, but heavy trudge. Pawniard and Elgyem stared in their direction silently for several minutes after they had left.

"What was that all about?" Elgyem eventually asked. Meeting two adults in the middle of a tournament round had been the least of their expectations, and it was difficult for them to make out whether they were related to it or not. "Were they knights?"

"I don't know," Pawniard answered emotionlessly, though a look of rage was present in his eyes, "but it has nothing to do with us. We have other matters to worry about." Stepping forward, he moved towards the nearest untouched Sweetgreen Berry Bush and picked up a berry by stabbing it with the knife at the end of his arm. Without thinking about his actions, he lifted his arm up to drop the berry into his mouth and taste it before his eyes widened in surprise. Pawniard had never been one to enjoy sweet foods, but was briefly overwhelmed by just how delicious and elegant its taste was- causing the rage in his eyes to quickly die down. For a second, the thought of actually wanting to taste the Golden Fruit, which he had once been told was hundreds of times better, flashed in his eyes- but he quickly snapped back to his senses.

For a minute or two, he and Elgyem carefully plucked around a dozen berries- getting a few extra just in case- and placed them all inside Elgyem's empty map tube for safekeeping as Scraggy gorged himself nearby. "Let's go," Pawniard spoke calmly before turning to lead them all towards their next destination.

* * *

After a couple hours of trekking down an old trail leading through Centeron Forest, Mienfoo and Joltik finally reached the southern edge of the forest and looked to see another abandoned town sitting not far from the base of a small mountain a short distance ahead. "So this is the old mining town, huh?" Mienfoo asked as they walked into it and looked around at the dusty and long forgotten buildings filling it.

"According to Elgyem, this place was abandoned around the same time as Centerton," Joltik replied, "but it hasn't been restored by the government in almost a hundred years so the buildings are probably on the verge of collapsing. We should be careful when we're looking for the helmets." Mienfoo nodded in agreement and they began to inspect each building in search of some sort of equipment storage shed where they might find the mining helmets that they had been sent there to retrieve.

After a good twenty minutes, they had found several- except that every single one seemed to have been recently broken open and emptied of all items necessary for the scavenger hunt. Mienfoo found it odd that so many helmets had already been taken when there was not even one other contestant anywhere in sight. They both knew that they could not have arrived too lately, and were quite certain that they had made good time.

"I've got a bad feeling about this," Joltik spoke up cautiously as they continued their search, with Mienfoo nodding silently in agreement.

From a rooftop behind the two, a dark void formed and a shadowy figure slowly climbed out. For a moment, the figure- a ghost with massive red eyes, shadowy arms, and a stone mask held by another arm beneath its torso- glared at them before creeping back into the portal and disappearing.

The Yamask reappeared in a wide, underground room lit by torchlight and filled with various other young Pokémon. "Have more contestants shown up?" a human-shaped female Pokémon with a pink face and two large black buns adorned with white ribbons on each side of its head wearing a black and white skirt asked in a elegant, but superior-sounding voice. "Then get rid of them," she ordered irritably when the Yamask nodded in reply.

Back in town, Mienfoo and Joltik had taken a break from their search and sat down to rest. "Maybe there weren't any helmets here to begin with?" Mienfoo suggested as they both sipped from a nearby stream.

"I'm sure that the tournament officials wouldn't put such an item on the Scavenger Hunt list if that were true," Joltik replied calmly. "Perhaps we're just searching in the wrong places. Or maybe all of them have already been taken by others."

"Let's hope not." Having finished their break, the two stood to continue- but Mienfoo came to a stop when he noticed a shadow dart across the rooftops from the corner of his eye. "Who's there?" he yelled as he turned to face a short, ghost-like Pokémon with pointed ears, sharp claws, sapphires where its eyes should have been, and a mischievous grin showing off a mouth full of fangs as it looked down at them from the rooftop. Mienfoo stepped back a little in surprise, having not ever seen such a Pokémon species before.

The foreigner, a Sableye, jumped to the ground and approached them, snickering. Then, he raised his claws as a black, shadowy substance engulfed each of them to both lengthen their reach and enhance their strength. When the ghost came forward to attack with a rapid combo of slashes, Mienfoo just barely managed to dodge each Shadow Claw. Stepping back, he shifted his center of gravity into his right leg and then spun around to deliver a powerful roundhouse kick with his left. His eyes widened in shock, however, when his foot phased harmlessly through the enemy's waist.

As Mienfoo lost balance and fell onto his back because of his failed attack, Sableye laughed hysterically before suddenly growing silent and looking down at him with an intimidating stare. Mienfoo found his body freezing up in fear the instant he glanced up at the Mean Look. "Bye bye!" Sableye exclaimed as he swung his Shadow Claw to finish him- only to jump away when Joltik let loose a bolt of lightning in his direction.

"You should consider running now, punk," the mite spoke while Mienfoo managed to get a hold of himself and return to his feet. Sableye stared at Joltik for a moment and smiled as two long, ghostly hands emerged from the shadow of an abandoned building behind the mite to grab onto and lift him into the air. From the building's shadow, the hands' owner, Yamask, emerged silently.

Before he could take more damage, Joltik unleashed a surge of electricity from the yellow hair on its back to make Yamask drop him in surprise. Landing on his feet, Joltik turned to let loose a wave of electric energy that travelled forward and formed a sphere around the mask-holding ghost before growing smaller and fading away to leave an electrical charge that sparked throughout its body. As the Yamask was held up by the paralysis, Joltik turned back to send out another bolt of lightning at Sableye- who effortlessly dodged out of the way.

Joltik immediately followed up by firing a quick bolt of lightning that Sableye effortlessly jumped out of the way of. Unfortunately, the ghost did not notice that this attack had been a feint to allow Joltik to fire yet another, even stronger lightning bolt at him while he was still in mid-air and unable to dodge.

An instant before the second attack stuck, however, a ball of purple flame flew forward to collide with it and produce a colorful explosion. Turning to face the source of the fireball, Mienfoo and Joltik both watched as a third ghost- a small, candle-like Pokémon with a single yellow eye, a round body composed entirely of wax, and a purple flame atop its head- entered the scene.

"Surrender your collected items," the Litwick spoke in a soft voice as Yamask recovered from its condition and stepped forward to help surround the two.

"We don't exactly have any yet," Joltik replied as he and Mienfoo looked around to inspect their situation.

"Then it's curtains for you!" Sableye exclaimed with an oddly disturbing tone as he rushed forward with his two shadow-coated claws ready to strike. Following their ally's lead, Yamask extended his arms to form a sphere of swirling dark energy between his palms and launched it forward as Litwick unleashed another ball of purple flame from the burning candle atop its head.

Without wasting a second, Joltik sent out a lightning bolt to cancel out Yamask's Shadow Ball while Mienfoo charged up a sphere of swirling blue energy to do the same to Litwick's fireball. As Sableye came upon him, Mienfoo stepped back and attempted to dodge another series of swipes from its claws.

Meanwhile, Yamask again floated forward to strangle Joltik with its shadowy arms- but was surprised when the electric mite quickly skidded backwards across the ground with incredible speed until he was behind him, and then unleashed a beam of randomly flashing lights into the ghost's back from his mouth to send him flying forward with great force. Noticing this out of the corner of his eye, Mienfoo leapt backwards out of the way as the Signal Beam slammed Yamask into Sableye.

Before the two could recover, Joltik unleashed another wave of electricity which quickly took the shape of a spider's web and entangled them. "Run!" he roared as he turned around and took off. "There's too many of them!" Mienfoo immediately complied and went after his comrade.

"Get 'em!" Sableye called out as the flowing electricity continued to hold them in place. Litwick stopped for a moment before nodding her head-like body and rushing after the two.

For a couple of minutes, Mienfoo and Joltik ran while turning sharply into various alleyways in attempt to evade their pursuers. From the sky, Mienfoo noticed three furry blue bats with piggish noses and round bodies flying above them and scouting the area. When one of them spotted him, it screeched loudly and they all began to flap their wings to unleash weak gusts of wind at him and his comrade.

"As I thought," Joltik said before launching a wave electricity to knock the Woobat out of the sky, "there are more of them than those we just met." Noticing the Litwick emerge from a corner after them, they immediately resumed their retreat. After turning another corner, Joltik suddenly stopped and climbed onto the wooden porch of an abandoned house with boarded windows. "Let's hide in here for now," he whispered.

Mienfoo jumped onto the porch and forced open the front door, an easy task considering how weak the wood had grown from age. After entering and closing the door behind them, Joltik led Mienfoo with several brief flashes of electricity until they reached the center of the room.

"So what now?" Mienfoo asked in a hushed tone as his friend reached the center and fell still in hopes that they had lost their pursuer.

"We'll wait here for a bit until they give up their search," the mite replied. "Once we've waited for a bit, we can try to capture one of them with a sneak attack and get them to-."

Joltik's words, and strategy, were but cut short, however, when a dark light suddenly illuminated the room as Litwick phased through the wall to enter the building. "Found you," she spoke as she slowly floated towards them. Noticing the two quickly stand and take on fighting stances, she quickly continued. "Wait, I'm here to help!"

Mienfoo and Joltik stopped and glanced at each other in confusion. "What do you mean?" the former asked after the latter gave him a nod of approval.

Litwick slowly and cautiously floated closer to them. "First off, you need to get out of here," she spoke worriedly as she neared them, "our leader has already taken all of the helmets in the town and is having us get rid of anyone that comes here for them. You're better off just forgetting about the tournament."

"Your leader? Who?" Joltik asked curiously when she finished speaking, ignoring her warning.

Litwick paused for a moment and the flame atop her head flicked several times before she hesitantly replied. "Gothorita. She is the heiress of a high-ranking noble family, and is offering us a large sum of money to help her win." After another brief pause, she continued. "I don't want to hurt you, but those are her orders. Just get out of here before she sends more of us after you. I'll guide you."

"If you don't like what she's telling you to do, why are you working for her?" Mienfoo pondered aloud, feeling that there was something strange about the way she told her story.

Litwick paused in hesitation once more. "… I've already given her my word that I would aid her, and I can't just go back on it," she then answered dejectedly. "Besides, my family could really use the money."

Both Mienfoo and Joltik looked at the ghost suspiciously. From her tone of voice, it was obvious that she was hiding something- but her mannerisms and tone did seem to imply that she truly did not have any ill intentions. Figuring that they would not be able to get it out of her no matter how much they questioned, they did not call her on it. "Very well, then," Joltik spoke calmly once they had both come to an agreement, "we'll go with you."

Litwick nodded in acknowledgement, and, after a few moments, they all quickly but inconspicuously exited the building and then made their way through the streets so that none of Litwick's allies would notice them. Within minutes, they had reached the Centerton Forest which almost bordered the town from the north. "This is as far as I go," she said as she came to a stop, "but you must continue on your way. It's best that you don't get involved with Gothorita."

"Thank you for your kindness," Mienfoo replied graciously, bowing his head in gratitude. His actions were soon mimicked by Joltik as well.

"It's the least I could do," she responded before turning around and floating back towards town. "Please be safe." Mienfoo and Joltik watched her float away for several moments before heading into the forest and disappearing from sight.

"We're going after her, right?" Joltik asked quietly, coming to a stop.

Mienfoo shook his head in thought. "I'm not sure… something doesn't seem right." Mienfoo could tell that Litwick was a kind and honest Pokémon and did not wish to betray her so easily, but he could tell that there was something wrong with her story too- something keeping her from giving them the whole truth. Besides, they had promised that they would retrieve the helmets for their comrades as well.

"Can you track her?" Joltik asked after nodding in agreement.

"Yes," he replied, sniffing the air with his sharp, pink nose. With his strong sense of smell quickly picked up the scent of the burning wax which made up Litwick's body. "This way," he continued while motioning for Joltik to follow him as he slowly went after Litwick. Following her from a distance while attempting to stay as hidden as possible, they watched as she rendezvoused with Sableye and the three Woobats.

"I'm sorry," she said in a low voice, "they escaped into the forest. I don't think they'll be coming back, though." Sableye snickered at this news before turning around and heading towards the southern edge of town while the others immediately followed. "I take it that Yamask has already returned without us?" Litwick asked as they moved south. She was answered by a cold silence.

Mienfoo and Joltik continued to follow the group from afar. The two found that they eventually left the town and continued on towards a small rocky hill with an opening leading downwards into a long, manmade cave; just a distance north of a large mountain, the ancient and inactive Tirupt Volcano, which towered over the town. Once Litwick and her companions had entered into the cave, the two rushed to the entrance and waited silently for several minutes before entering the abandoned mines after them.

Fortunately, these long, maze-like tunnels had been built large enough for adults to work in, so there was plenty of room to comfortably accommodate children of their size. Despite the pitch-black darkness, Mienfoo was able to more or less follow Litwick's path on scent alone- and Joltik whipped up a few jolts of electricity to light up the area around them when necessary. After another ten minutes or so, they noticed a faint light illuminating ahead of them and began to hear unfamiliar voices.

"What do you mean they got away?" a strong, girl's voice echoed through the mine shaft towards them.

"It… it's my fault," Litwick replied in a terrified tone, "They were too fast and ran into the forest. I couldn't catch them."

Mienfoo and Joltik managed to get closer and hid behind a rock extending from the bottom of a wall at the end of the tunnel. Peeking over it, Mienfoo saw a crowd of young Pokémon gathered inside a large underground chamber lit by bright torchlight and connected to several different tunnels. In one corner of the room was a large pile of helmets the enemy had apparently collected.

"Don't you forget what I'm capable of," the feminine voice, who Mienfoo immediately recognized as the Gothorita in charge, spoke, "I can have your entire family ruined financially with a snap of my finger- and I will if you continue to fail me. I suggest you keep that in mind." Litwick lowered her gaze and submissively backed away.

Upon seeing this, Mienfoo realized just what was truly going on. Litwick wasn't working under Gothorita for payment- she was being blackmailed into it. Mienfoo clenched his fist in anger at this discovery; the idea that someone would do such a terrible thing was atrocious to him. He turned back to consult silently with Joltik but found that his companion had disappeared. Not knowing what to do, Mienfoo decided to leave him be before going back to spying on the crowd.

The Manipulate Pokémon brought up her arms to fluff the ball-like buns on each side of her head before stepping backwards to sit down on a fancy fur-covered chair that completely stood out when compared to its dirty surroundings. "Anyways, it's so stuffy in here!" she complained, giving off the aura of a spoiled brat. "Ralts! Bring me a drink!"

From another corner of the room, a small Pokémon with a green and red, helmet-like head and a body resembling a long, white robe walked forward while holding a large glass of clear liquid.

When the Ralts neared her, Gothorita snatched the drink from its hands and drank it gracefully. Once it was empty, she handed it back. "Next time bring it here faster," she complained before shooing him away. "Why isn't Golett back with the Fire Stones yet?" she asked after a brief silence. "Just how long is it going to take him?"

"We're not quite sure where inside the mountain they are," one of her subordinates- a blue, floating jellyfish-like Pokémon with red eyes and a crown atop its head- answered her, "it may take him awhile to return."

"Fine," Gothorita responded bitterly, "I'll wait- but he'd best hurry."

Mienfoo listened in on Gothorita's ramblings for some time, but heard very little interesting information amidst her constant blabbering and complaints.

"I told you to hurry it up this time!" she scolded loudly and pushed Ralts away after having called him for another drink. "You never learn do you?"

"I… I'm sorry madam," Ralts stuttered as he pulled himself to his feet- only to be pushed backwards immediately afterwards.

"Oh, you will be," Gothorita spoke in an authoritative tone. "Sableye, give him a lesson he won't soon forget."

Sableye snickered evilly and stepped forward as the Manipulate Pokémon sat back with a confident smile on her pink, princess-like face. Before Ralts could get back up, he was sent tumbling by a kick from the Darkness Pokémon- who promptly came forward to follow up with a swipe of its claws.

"Please!" Litwick called out to Gothorita in protest while floating in between Sableye and Ralts. "Give him another chance!" Sableye's grin faded and he turned towards his leader in expectation.

Gothorita frowned and fell silent for a moment before answering with a slight, dismissive wave of her hand. "Punish her too."

Sableye's maniacal grin once again spread across his face as he extended his arms and dark energy engulfed his claws. Without hesitation, he came forward to both cut down Litwick and kick Ralts away in a single movement.

Mienfoo grit his teeth in anger as he saw Sableye begin to strike Litwick- who dared not retaliate in fear of upsetting Gothorita further. As Litwick fell to the ground and cried out in pain, he clenched his fist and -unable to take anymore - stood up to reveal himself. "Stop this!" he yelled, quickly drawing the attention of every Pokémon in the room.

For an instant, everyone stood still in surprise at his sudden appearance. Gothorita was the first to speak. "I don't know who you are," she said calmly as Mienfoo gave her a furious glare, "but standing up before me like this is a big mistake. Crush him."

Immediately, a group of most her subordinates- consisting of Yamask, the three Woobat, the blue jellyfish-like Frillish, and a large, turquoise, bat-looking Pokémon, a Swoobat- rushed towards him.

"Mienfoo, run!" Joltik's voice called out to him from behind. "Now!"

As if suddenly realizing that he could not win against so many opponents at once, the Martial Arts Pokémon turned and began to run back down the tunnel as his friend lit the way with brief jolts of electricity.

Upon turning a sharp corner, Joltik suddenly sidestepped to hide behind a pile of crates while motioning Mienfoo to do the same. Once they were both hidden, the bug sent out a weak shockwave that traveled further down the tunnel- which produced a faint light to trick their pursuers into passing them up.

The group of enemies did not make it far; however, as they soon ran into a net of thin, but iron-tough webbing which entangled them. In addition, powerful electricity flowing through the web began to surge into their bodies and quickly made them all collapse unconscious to the ground.

"I figured that we would need a little strategy to compete with so many opponents," Joltik explained as he stepped out from behind the crates and studied the small pile of defeated Pokémon, "so I spun a few of these traps and electrified them while you were eavesdropping."

Before Mienfoo could express his gratitude, one of the fallen Pokémon, Yamask, stood back up and turned to give the two a resentful stare before extending his shapeless arms towards them. Without hesitation, Joltik unleashed a powerful thunderbolt directly between the ghost's extended arms to strike its body and fill the tunnel with a blinding bright light as well as an echoing boom.

When the light had faded and his ears had stopped ringing, Mienfoo looked ahead to see Yamask lying still on the ground, defeated. "Nice job," he spoke, almost in disbelief at his teammate's skill. He knew that his companion was strong and intelligent, but had never seen him go all out like this. Along with Pawniard, Joltik was most definitely one of the two members of their group whom Mienfoo looked up to the most.

"I try," Joltik joked in reply before turning around to head back in Gothorita's direction- only to stop dead upon noticing a smirking Sableye standing in his way.

"This guy again?" Mienfoo asked as Sableye began to generate more dark energy around his hands to form two Shadow Claws.

"Leave him to me," the electric mite spoke as he charged up power and unleashed an electric bolt at the ghost, "just get to Litwick!" When the electric shockwave neared the ghost, Sableye canceled it out with a single strike of his dark-powered left claw, though the flash the shockwave created upon dispersing briefly blocked his vision.

After this occurred, Mienfoo attempted to use the resulting flash to his advantage and sneak past the ghost Pokémon unnoticed. It was only out of the corner of his eye that he had noticed Sableye spot him and just barely ducked out of the way in time to avoid a powerful slash of his right Shadow Claw. Before Sableye could follow up as Mienfoo attempted to regain balance, another bolt of lightning erupted from the bright yellow bristles of fur on Joltik's back to knock him to the ground. "Go!"

Mienfoo nodded in response as he immediately took off as quickly as he could manage, leaving his comrade to deal with the ghost. As he ran, he could hear the sounds of thunder and explosions resounding from behind. Despite being worried, Mienfoo trusted Joltik's ability to handle the situation and did not look back. Besides, he knew that the hurting Litwick needed his support more than anyone right now.

Within a minute, the Martial Arts Pokémon had made his way back to the entrance to the underground chamber where he had been eavesdropping on Gothorita's group just moments before. Standing strong with his hand resting against the extended rock he was previously hiding behind, Mienfoo sternly inspected what remained of the enemy. Only Litwick, Ralts, and Gothorita herself were left in the chamber.

"What?" the Manipulate Pokémon spoke in an upset tone. "Those useless fools couldn't even take down one measly rat? Preposterous!"

Mienfoo scowled and gave her a fierce glare. "I know what you're up to," he spoke, "trying to win the tournament by threatening others into your service. It's unforgiveable. Stop this, or I will make you stop."

A look of incredible, unadulterated anger spread across Gothorita's face as he told her this, growing stronger with every word he spoke. That someone had the gall to speak to her, an Uryus noble, in such a manner was unforgiveable in her mind. When he had finished, she fell silent for a couple of moments before responding. "Ralts… Litwick…" she said under her breath, biting her lip and slowly drawing out each word in attempt to hold back her rage, "make him suffer…" The two Pokémon looked back at her in hesitation, prompting her to continue as an unholy glare filled her gaze. "Or else…!"

Realizing what this meant, Ralts and the ghost immediately turned back to face Mienfoo, approaching him in a hostile manner as looks of both terror and regret filled their faces.

"I'm sorry," Litwick whispered as the purple flame atop her candle-like body increased in size and spawned a massive ball of violet fire, which came forward to strike the ground where Mienfoo had been standing just an instant before.

Sidestepping out of the way, Mienfoo leaped onto the wall, jumped off it, and attempted to move around the two attackers to take on Gothorita directly- only to be hurled backwards as Ralt's psychic powers lifted him off the ground and flung him back into the wall.

"If you want to take me down, then you're going to have to get past these two first," Gothorita spoke with a slight chuckle, calming down somewhat upon seeing him injured. "Don't hold back, you two," she continued, smiling as Litwick and Ralts moved in between her and him.

Dark energy began to escape from Litwick's body, forming a ball of shadows, which spun rapidly before her. Tears of hot wax filled her eyes as she launched it towards the fallen Mienfoo- who roared out in pain as it exploded on impact.

Before the smoke had cleared, Ralts clapped his hands together and closed his eyes as a beam of multi-colored psychic energy emerged from the large red horn on his green, helmet-like head; bursting through the smoke to strike Mienfoo as well.

Gothorita laughed pleasurably at this spectacle. When the smoke finally did clear, a bruised and battered Mienfoo could be seen on the ground before her two underlings. "Had enough?" she asked in a cruel voice.

Mienfoo opened his eyes halfway to give off a look of sheer determination. "Forgive me, you two," he spoke calmly as he pushed himself off the ground- ignoring the pain- and rushed forward. Jumping up, he swung his foot into Litwick's side- only to be thrust backwards by another Shadow Ball when it phased through her body without doing any damage. Skidding across the floor, Mienfoo cursed himself forgetting about the ghost types' immunity to regular attacks.

As he came to rest on the ground, struggling, Mienfoo's mind flashed back to an old training session he had undergone with his mother several years before. In it, he vaguely remembered her telling him of the dangers ghost-types possessed since fighting type moves would not work against them. When he had asked how to counter this, she answered by telling him of their weakness to dark-type moves- which could be used by channeling evil energy produced through dark thoughts and emotions into one's attacks.

Knowing that he had no choice but to use this method, Mienfoo clenched his fists in anger as images of Gothorita's cruelty and selfishness filled his mind and focused his mind in order to convert those thoughts into a form of energy. Then, when he could feel the dark energy spreading through his entire body, he attempted to direct it all into his right hand- which soon began to produce a faint, but deadly black aura. Standing up once more, Mienfoo gave Litwick a stern glare before rushing forward, dodging a barrage of attacks from her and Ralts. Upon nearing the ghost, he smirked as he leaned over to smash his clawed fist into her, roaring- only to stop dead when the attack was a mere inch from landing.

Mienfoo bit down on his lip as his fist slowed down in the air, looking into Litwick's tear-filled eyes and realizing that she was already in enough pain. It would go against everything he believed in to put her in even more. "I… I can't do it…" he spoke softly as he lowered his arm and stepped backwards, the dark aura surrounding his arm quickly disappearing in the process. After looking back at Litwick then Ralts, he lowered his head. "I understand the situation you two are in… so please attack me until Gothorita is satisfied. I won't fight back."

Litwick and Ralts both stared at the mustelid in disbelief for a moment before Gothorita finally spoke up. "What are you waiting for? Defeat him!" At these words, Litwick shuddered before beginning to charge up a powerful ball of dark energy. As she prepared to fire it, she looked hesitantly at her target for a moment. From her seat behind them, Gothorita looked at the scene confidently as she waited for Mienfoo to be struck and fall.

Noticing the ghost's hesitation, Mienfoo looked up and spoke under his breath in a serious tone. "I don't care how much you hit me, but I will assure you this. You are my friend - and, no matter what you do, I won't let her lay one finger on you or anyone else. I swear."

Upon hearing this, Litwick seemed to falter even more hesitantly, prompting Gothorita to start angrily reprimanding her from behind. Finally, Litwick closed her eyes and released the Shadow Ball, turning her body at the last second so that it was shot harmlessly to the side. "I can't do it either," she said under her breath in a depressed tone. "I'm sorry." Beside her, Ralts nodded his head in agreement.

A moment of silence passed as Gothorita looked at the two with a bewildered glare before scowling and pushing herself out of the chair and to her feet. "Fine then," she said in an irritated voice as she stood and began to step forward, "I will do this myself. Useless dolts." After glancing at Mienfoo with an angry look, Gothorita raised her arm in order to fire a powerful and fast beam of brightly-colored psychic energy at him.

Reacting to this, Mienfoo threw himself to the ground and rolled out of the way to avoid the large Psybeam, after which he quickly pushed himself to his feet and dashed forward between Litwick and Ralts in attempt to close the distance and strike her. As he came near, however, Gothorita leapt backwards while lifting up her hands to shoulder-level as several helmets which had been lying on the ground were coated in psychic energy and lifted off the ground as if by an invisible puppeteer. With a motion of her hand, the floating helmets all rapidly swooped forward to ram into the Mustelid, who was forced to zigzag around to avoid being struck.

Gothorita smiled confidently at the sight before manipulating the helmets so that they surrounded Mienfoo in a circular position for a moment before shooting closer to strike him from all sides. Mienfoo managed to avoid this at the last second by throwing himself to the ground, extending his hands in front of him and quickly beginning to charge up an aura sphere in between his palms at the same time. When the helmets struck each other directly above him, Mienfoo pushed himself to his feet while running forwards and throwing the sphere of aura forward at Gothorita with all his might. The Manipulate Pokémon attempted to dodge by sidestepping, only for the aura sphere to graze her side and explode with enough force to make her stumble to the ground and lose control of the helmets.

In the moment she was reeling, Mienfoo came forward to deliver a strong force palm to her shoulder and make her stumble further backwards. When he began to move forward and strike her again, however, Gothorita clenched her teeth in irritation before quickly extending her arm forward at a downwards angle to fire a weak, but sudden Psybeam at the ground in-between them. From the sudden force of the beam of glowing psychic energy striking the ground in front of him, Mienfoo cancelled his charge and stepped backwards in surprise, the flash from the impact quickly clearing to show Gothorita returning to her feet. "So, you're a bit, tough, huh?" she said as they both panted and briefly glared at each other before shifting their stances in preparation to continue. "No matter."

After a moment, Mienfoo and Gothorita each took on their own stance with Mienfoo quickly moving his hands together to charge up another Aura Sphere even as Gothorita created three thick masses of blue and purple energy in front of her body and then fired them forward at Mienfoo with great speed before he could finish charging his attack. Mienfoo stumbled backwards as the Psyshock struck him in various places like heavy stones and making his aura sphere accidently disperse harmlessly as a result, but quickly regained balance by pivoting back around so that he was again facing Gothorita and stepped forward to kick one of the helmets laying on the ground in front of him at her. Upon being struck, Gothorita stumbled backwards into the rocky wall of the chamber; giving Mienfoo the chance to begin charging forward at her once more. As he ran, Mienfoo extended his arm and felt his anger at her and desire for vengeance on behalf of those she had wronged begin to flow into his mind, quickly using the raw emotions to generate a dark aura which he channeled around his fist in preparation to strike her with it once he was close enough.

Seeing this, Gothorita extended her hand upwards to fire off another Psybeam- only for it to fly off at a completely wrong angle sideways rather than forward where Mienfoo was approaching from thanks to her bad position. A moment after, however, as Mienfoo was only a step away from striking her with his Payback attack, the Manipulate Pokémon smirked confidently and twisted her extended arm, making the bright, multicolored beam she had fired suddenly perform a u-turn in mid-air so that it was now charging straight towards the mustelid's side instead. From the corner of his eye, Mienfoo noticed this, but realized that there was no way he could avoid or counter it in time, nor could he move quickly enough to strike Gothorita before he was blown to the side by it.

Suddenly, an explosion filled the air; Gothorita's eyes widened and her jaw dropped as Litwick fired a Shadow Ball and Ralts fired his own Psybeam at her attack from the center of the chamber. The two attacks combined to cancel out the first in a flashy explosion, allowing Mienfoo to complete his own technique- bringing his dark energy-coated fist forward to pummel it into the Manipulate Pokémon's gut which smashed her deep into the wall she had been standing in front of.

After a moment, Mienfoo stepped back and allowed Gothorita to collapse to the ground where she quickly curled up into a ball while groaning; unable to move because the pain of the injuries she had suffered. After catching his breath, Mienfoo turned back to give Ralts and Litwick a reassuring smile. A minute or two passed while he found some rope thrown in a corner of the chamber and used it to bind Gothorita's hands and feet to ensure that she wouldn't try anything again. Finally, as he finished, they turned to see Joltik emerging victoriously into the chamber.

"You won, then?" Mienfoo asked excitedly when he and the others turned to see the mite approach.

"Of course," Joltik replied as he neared them and saw the tied up Gothorita. "Good work here. Seems like you've got things wrapped up nicely on your end as well."

Mienfoo chuckled shyly at the compliment before falling silent as they all turned to look at the captured Gothorita, who was staring at the ground dejectedly. "Why would you treat others like that?" he asked her, somewhat angrily.

Gothorita looked up to meet him in the eye for a moment before a depressed look spread across her face and she looked back at the ground where she kneeled. "I… I'm sorry…" she began, tears starting to form in her eyes. "I know what I did was cruel and unforgivable… it's just… I have to win. Historically, the house to which the winner of the Queen's Tournament belongs acquires great influence as a result; and everyone in my family expects me to achieve that for them. I just wanted to assert my strength so others would ally under me and help me do so." Glancing back up at the Pokémon standing over her, the Manipulate Pokémon continued desperately. "I know I took it too far, but that's all I was trying to achieve."

"That's no excuse for your actions," Joltik replied, to which Gothorita fell silent and nodded in agreement.

"Yes, I understand," she responded in agreement after a moment of silence. "I'll disband my group and resign from the tournament." A tense moment filled the chamber as Mienfoo and Joltik analyzed what she had said before nodding in agreement.

* * *

Sometime later, Mienfoo had grabbed a burlap sack he'd found in the chamber and stuffed several helmets inside, slinging it over his shoulder before he and the others began to exit the mines until finally emerging back outside near the base of the small mountain under the bright, noon sun.

"Now then," Joltik said as they emerged, bidding farewell to Ralts who had decided to go directly back to Centerton and resign from the tournament as well, "that just leaves the Firestones, huh? We should probably figure out how to get up into Tirupt from here quickly in order to get to them."

Nodding in agreement, Mienfoo began to move with him as they moved in the direction of a trail that, according to the map, would lead them to the peak- only to stop as Litwick moved in front of them. "M… mind if I come too?" she asked hesitantly. "I need a firestone too, I promise not to slow you down."

Mienfoo and Joltik both turned to look at each other before laughing and looking back at her to respond in unison. "Of course!"

* * *

Elsewhere, a loud trudging sound echoed beneath the massive Beartic's feet as he slowly moved through the vast Centerton Forest; a violent and fierce demeanor imprinted into his face and posture which ensured that any other contestants who happened to cross paths with him would quickly retreat in fear. At this point, however, he stopped as he noticed another Pokémon leaning against a tree while giving him an observant glare a few meters ahead.

"Out of my sight," the bear warned with a growl before stepping forward and swinging his large arm to deliver a bone shattering swing of his paw into the Pokémon's side- only to widen his eyes in surprise as the teenage Pokémon simply extended its palm into his forearm to stop the attack dead with little effort. With a quick movement, the Pokémon pushed the bear's arm away and came forward to deliver a quick, but powerful jab into his gut which sent him tumbling backwards.

"Your journey through the Queen's Tournament ends here," the lean, bipedal Pokémon with rocky blue skin wearing a black and white martial arts uniform spoke in a cold, uninspired, and emotionless tone as it began to slowly walk towards the fallen bear who was attempting to stand back up.

With a violent roar, the bear pushed himself to his feet and dashed at the Pokémon with his arm extended to crush his claw into its side powerfully- only for said Pokémon to simply dodge by stepping backwards and then close the distance as the claw missed and bring down its arm to elbow him in the side of the neck with enough force to drop the bear's massive body to the ground. As Beartic fell, the man-shaped Pokémon came down and lifted its leg to knee him in the gut and send him flying backwards headfirst into a thick tree trunk.

Coughing as the world spun around him, Beartic struggled to pick up his body upon noticing the blue Pokémon slowly walking towards him; an emotionless glare showing on its face which quickly sent a shiver down his spine. "Who are you?" the bear stuttered even as the Pokémon came to a stop and looked down at him oppressively.

"Sawk."

* * *

**A/N: Sorry for the delay, but I really haven't had any time to work on this until recently. I hope you all enjoyed this chapter, since a lot happened and I thought the fight scenes were pretty fun. The main plot of the Round Two Arc is starting to pick up speed, and the scope of the setting and cast is going to start getting bigger (but in a good way, I think). I'm a bit concerned with how the the next chapter will be reacted to since there's not really much action, but I'm looking forward to it nonetheless. Until next time, readers!**


	7. Chapter 7: Adventures (Part 2)

For almost another hour, Timburr and Darumaka continued to move northeastwards through the Centerton Forest while attempting to follow the map to the location of their next destination, a small section of the forest called the Tower Woods where they could find the Syron Nuts they sought. Naturally, after the events they had been embroiled in at Sk'lear Lake, they had both been left feeling hotblooded and moving eagerly with a skip in their step to continue their adventure, but after some time that gradually faded with their pace falling to a steady trudge as boredom set in once again. To keep entertained, Timburr began to hum to himself with Darumaka beside him soon joining to form a beat which briefly lifted their spirits.

Becoming engrossed in attempting to hum louder than the infant, Timburr lost focus on the path ahead of him and his hum turned to a sudden yelp as he walked straight into the base of a thick, ash-colored tree trunk blocking his path. Darumaka broke into laughter as he fell onto his back and slowly pushed himself to a seated position while rubbing his head and grumbling. "Not funny."

After brushing himself off, Timburr stood and looked around the gray trunk to see numerous similar trees as far as the eye could see in the section of the forest ahead of them. These differed from the trees they had moving under beforehand not only in color, but also in that they were quite a bit taller, with long, smooth cylindrical trunks a meter in diameter reaching up over 15 meters before any branches began to form, and that they were somewhat more scarcely placed, allowing even more sunlight to seep in through the canopy and giving off a warm, woodlands feel. "Interesting place," Timburr said under his breath with a slight laugh before beginning to move into the area, "so is this the Tower Woods? The trees are pretty big, so it's gotta be, right?" Darumaka cried out in response as he looked around at the various gray tree trunks with a puzzled look. "So, where are the Syron Nuts supposed to be, then?"

"The treetops of course," a voice unexpectedly replied, making Timburr almost stumble over his own feet in surprise. Upon turning to where the voice had come from, he saw a small monkey with fine, dark green fur coating its head and legs, yellow fur around its torso, neck, and mouth, and a broccoli-like growth jutting out of the top of its skull standing a couple meters away, studying them with a observant look while leaning on a tree trunk. Behind the Pansage were four other young Pokémon, a small gray and black pigeon-like Pokémon, a similar-looking monkey except with blue fur as opposed to green, a large, tough-looking Minccino, and a light purple-skinned, human-shaped Pokémon of a species Timburr did not recognize as native to Uryus with three spikes on its head in the shape of a crest and wearing what appeared to be brown shorts and shoes along with white bandages wound around its stomach and wrists.

"You see," the Pansage continued with a confident smile as he walked towards Timburr and Darumaka, nodding his head in greeting as the Pokémon behind him stood back silently, "the Syron Nuts only grow all the way up there where it isn't exactly easy to get to them, it seems to me as if part of the reason they are target items to begin with is the challenge of having to climb those tall trees and retrieve them. They're pretty hard to scale, too."

Timburr studied the crafty-looking green monkey suspiciously for a second before deciding he seemed truthful enough, shaking his head and laughing as he turned towards the nearest tree trunk. "Thanks for the tip, but how hard can it be? I got this. I'll get some for you while I'm at it." Timburr inspected the tree trunk for handholds before slowly leaning his head upwards to look at the canopy above, gulping as the height of the tree, making him feel like a speck in comparison, began to dawn on him. '_Not heights again…' _he groaned inwardly as he stood there, trying to muster the courage to begin scaling the tower-like tree.

"Ah wait a second, there's no need for that," the Pansage suddenly stopped him as Timburr moved his hand to grab a tiny indent in the tree trunk and hesitantly prepared to use it to pull himself up. "We already have plenty of nuts, you see Pidove here can just fly up there up and get them like other flying types. We can give you some if you'd like." Reaching into a burlap sack he held at his side, the monkey retrieved a large black walnut and held it in his hand as if offering it to the fighting-type.

Looking back at him, Timburr's eyes seemed to water from gratitude at not having to climb the massive tree and quickly extended his hand to take the nut- only for Pansage to retract it at the last second. A devious smile formed on the monkey's face. "Of course, if I were to give some to you, it's only fair that I receive something in exchange beforehand, right?"

Upon hearing this, Timburr froze in place, his eyes seeming to former larger tears as the thought of having to climb the massive tree came back into his mind. "I…," he stuttered, struggling to reply as he shot his hand back into his own bag and began to dig through it, "I don't really have much to trade for… maybe an extra water stone? Please!?"

Pansage chuckled dismissively as Timburr offered the item to him. "No, I had something else in mind," he said. "How about some information, instead? You see, word on the street says that a Timburr and a Darumaka defeated the Squirtle Squad at Sky'lear Lake over an hour ago, and fought a strong Beartic afterwards to boot. I find it quite interesting, and would like to know if it happens to be true."

After processing the monkey's words for a bit, Timburr seemed to calm down and look back at him with a confused look. "Wait, what? How'd you hear about that? I thought we made good timing getting here from there? And what do you care?"

Pansage seemed to smirk as he heard this before moving his free hand behind him and motioning for the Pidove standing among the group behind him to hop closer to them so he can point him out. "Hehe, seems like you don't know much about how things work in the tournament, do you?" Leaning in closer, the monkey continued in an informative, but somewhat boastful tone. "You see, in this sort of challenge with thousands of contestants, _connections are everything_; and flying types are how you establish those connections. With their ability to cover large distances with ease, fliers are key to trading items and information, both of which are quite useful in making it through this test and observing the competition. With a few flying types on your side, even in a big region like this you can have a decent idea as to who all the major groups are.

"As for why I'm interested, I guess you can say I'm something of a bigshot among the contestants- I've already got over thirty Pokémon working under me and am always looking for capable hands such as yourselves. Plus I have connections with a few other major players with their own groups, like that all-star foreigner Scyther; Fraxure Hunri, the son of a Distinguished Knight; Elgyem Lucas the strategist; Dewott Notts; or Archen's Gang. If you're willing to join, I can help you locate your target items and get you through the upcoming challenges; and in exchange for helping me win the tournament I can pay you once it's over. Interested?"

As Pansage finished, a puzzled Timburr stared at him for a moment. "Wha-? Help you win? You mean like become your underling? No way! Besides, I'm aiming for the top with my own power!" Beside him, Darumaka cheered in agreement.

A disappointed look seemed to fill Pansage's face, who quickly rebutted. "I understand your position, and that's too bad, for both of us. People can get hurt in a tournament like this, but there's safety in numbers. Rumor has it that there are even a few monstrously strong contestants going around obliterating anyone they come across without mercy." The monkey smirked. "I'd be careful if I were you." With a sigh, Pansage shrugged and turned around while motioning at the Pokémon who had been waiting behind him. "Come on, we're leaving," he said as he began to walk away.

For a bit, the two watched them depart until their backs disappeared from sight. "Boo!" Darumaka cried out once they were out of earshot, sticking out her tongue in their direction in an insulting manner.

"Hehe, yeah," Timburr replied, laughing as he turned back to the tree, staring up at it as the thought of climbing that high quickly shook his mind. "Well, we still have to continue further north to get some Jaku Flowers, so I guess we'd better get started then," he continued in a thoroughly un-optimistic voice as he grabbed onto a small notch in the wood and began to pull himself upwards.

* * *

"So, that's two out of three," Pawniard spoke in a low voice as he and Elgyem calmly inspected the Leaf Stones while emerging from a large underground cave coated in moss at the southwestern edge of Centerton Forest where they had retrieved them without much problems a few minutes before, with Scraggy shouting repeatedly in the background. Upon exiting the cave, they began to move further west a little bit until crossing over the boundary of the forest, where they stood in place, able to see the edge of the rocky region which comprised the Rough Lands they had travelled through the day before a short distance ahead.

"Indeed," Elgyem replied, placing the items away and then pulling out his map, "all that leaves is the Braviary Feathers from Adelaar Village. We should try to make haste; there should be a trail further to the west that will lead us there through the rough region." Just as Elgyem finished and prepared to move forward, he stopped as he noticed Pawniard seemed to cringe at his words. "Something wrong?"

Pawniard looked back at him with an empty look. "No… it's just… are we certain it's safe? You've heard of Adelaar before, haven't you? The rough region has long been considered uninhabitable for civilians by the kingdom; what happened to you and Mienfoo before is proof enough as to why. The only communities within it are not affiliated with the kingdom- they're the territories of the Bird Tribe and ruled over by its warriors, who rival even the Queen's Knights in strength. In the past, incidents of outsiders trespassing into their lands have always ended in bloodshed."

A silent pause filled the air between them as Elgyem considered his words with a serious look, having clearly already been somewhat concerned about everything Pawniard had just said. "Yes," the Cerebral Pokémon finally responded, "the Bird Tribe and their history of conflicts with the kingdom did cross my mind, however, there has not been an incident with them in more than a decade. Moreover, I highly doubt that the Queen would have us contestants go there without their permission or if there was any risk. I see no reason to hesitate."

Pawniard looked back and Elgyem for a moment before exhaling and moving to take the lead. "Point taken. With haste to Adelaar, then." Behind him, Scraggy broke into a big toothy grin as if about to shout 'Golden Fruit' with his arms raised in excitement as he went to follow- only for Pawniard to cut him off with a cold voice. "Say that one more time and we're leaving you here."Alarmed, Scraggy stopped himself by grabbing his mouth and nodded in compliance before moving to follow along.

* * *

Tirupt Volcano, a dormant landmark located a distance south of the small mining town bordering the vast Centerton Forest which towered over the surrounding landscape; comparable to a Lonely Mountain to the point where Mienfoo half expected to come across a massive dragon guarding a hoard of gold within it as he and his comrades slowly scaled a trail leading up its base. Less than an hour after they had obtained the helmets and begun moving towards the small mountain, the group stopped upon finding that the trail they were following began to branch off to continue into a massive open doorway leading into the side of the mountain.

"More tunnels, huh?" Joltik said as he stared into the large tunnel which led inside the mountain; though he found it to be quite different from the mine shafts they had been in before in that the mountain's were far larger and its walls were much smoother, seeming more natural in origin. "Well, since Fire Stones apparently form pretty deep inside the volcano, I guess this would be a good place to enter."

Just as Joltik moved to enter the tunnel, Mienfoo seemed to hesitate, staring deeper into it. "There's not going to be lava or anything in there, right?" he asked as he looked into the long, dark tunnel while repositioning the burlap sack he carried containing the helmets they had collected over his shoulder. "I mean, it's a volcano, isn't it? Wouldn't it be dangerous?"

Joltik laughed. "I don't think so; it's dormant, so we shouldn't find anything like that. Besides, there's probably not anything too dangerous here since this is part of the tournament and all." Mienfoo chuckled in agreement, reassured, before he and Litwick moved to follow Joltik into the tunnel. For several minutes, the tunnel they moved through seemed to wind downwards deeper and deeper into the mountain while quickly growing darker and darker and they began to rely on Joltik's electric sparks to guide them forward. At some point, however, as they got deep enough they were surprised to find the walls of the tunnel begin to be imbedded with glowing red crystals which seemed to act as a natural light source that lit up their surroundings with a bright reddish hue.

Not long after, however, they found that the tunnel they were travelling through began to split into more and more branches the further they went almost like a labyrinth as it connected with other tunnels leading to various entryways spread across the mountain's base; though Joltik seemed to suspect that they all would eventually lead to a place where they could find fire stones, if not the same location, as long as they continued to go gradually downwards.

Eventually, as they continued, the three of them all realized that the temperature was rapidly increasing until they stopped in place upon picking up on the sound of heavy footsteps slowly approaching them. The three of them all then watched as a tall figure turned a corner and walked through the tunnel in the opposite direction- a bipedal Pokémon with a long, hose-like snout, sharp claws which clutched onto a bright, fiery yellow stone, a torso covered in lava-like patterns, and a red tail resembling a muffler behind it which seemed to be actively expelling the strange, intense heat that the group had felt from afar.

"Uh, excuse me…" Litwick began as the Heatmor passed by them, noticing the Fire Stone it held in its hand, "I don't suppose you could give us some directions to where you found that?" Immediately after she had finished and fallen silent to allow the large Pokémon to respond, she froze in place, quivering, as the fire-type turned its head slightly to look at her, revealing a serious, piercing eye on one side of its head with a jagged scar just above it forming an eyebrow-like mark. After a moment, the Pokémon seemed to dismiss them and turned its head to continue onwards without a word.

As the Heatmor disappeared down the tunnel, Joltik stared in his direction for a bit before shaking his head and moving on. "Weird," he said, snapping Litwick and Mienfoo back to their senses before turning to continue onwards. "But who cares? We can do this on our own."

"R-right," Litwick replied, agreeing as she moved after him with Mienfoo. Going deeper for a bit longer, the group soon forgot about their previous encounter as they passed a corner and found that the walls and ceiling of this portion of the tunnel were now decorated with countless ancient and yet extraordinary carvings which depicted ancient Pokémon or told various stories through a series of pictures.

While the mine shafts they had been in when retrieving the helmets had obviously been designed for work in mind, the tunnels they now moved through seemed as if they had been designed with great care by ancient Pokémon over countless centuries for the sake of proudly showing them off to any who might venture into them. These suspicions were only heightened as they turned one last corner to find the tunnel exiting into a ledge on the edge of a massive cylindrical cavern in the center of the volcano which extended both upwards and downwards almost as far as the eye could see. Even more amazing, in the center of the cavern across from the ledge where they stood was a massive natural stone pillar onto which was built a large, exquisite-looking ancient stone structure; greatly resembling an expertly and exquisitely crafted monastery with a bridge made of stone leading towards it from the edge of the ledge where they stood.

"Impressive isn't it?" an unfamiliar, robotic-sounding but strangely humorous voice suddenly broke the silence as they gazed at the structure in awe, causing Mienfoo to jerk sideways in surprise as he felt a heavy metallic arm come to rest on his shoulder in a friendly manner. The arm's owner and speaker, a short and stubby-looking Pokémon with a round body consisting of greenish-blue metal and glowing yellow eyes, laughed as the group all moved to look at him in surprise. "That would be the legendary Temple Reshiram; one of Uryus' Five Great Cultural Landmarks, said to have been built around the same time of the kingdom's founding. Even though it's been abandoned for centuries, it still maintains its majesty, doesn't it? There's not a kid alive in all of Uryus that hasn't heard of it. Bet none of you thought you would ever have the chance to see it, huh?"

Joltik and Mienfoo both looked at the new arrival in surprise even as Litwick studied him with a look of recognition before Joltik spoke up. "And you are?"

Though he possessed an apparently expressionless face, the Pokémon seemed to smirk confidently as he pointed his arm at himself and spoke quickly in introduction. "Name's Golett Raviero, Child Adventurer Extraordinaire, son of the esteemed Automaton Rav Clan, participant of the Queen's Tournament, future knight, and recon specialist. Pleased to make your acquaintance."

Speechless, the group couldn't help but stare at the Pokémon in surprise. In Uryus and most other lands, given names were rarely used except to distinguish between two Pokémon of the same species so they, and other titles were rarely stated in introductions except when being formal and respectful, which, judging from his demeanor and the way he spoke, Golett definitely was not. In their minds, to call it jarring was an understatement.

"Ah, you…" Litwick said as she seemed to recognize him, "we haven't met, but you were working with Gothorita too, weren't you? I remember her talking about how she sent you to retrieve some Fire Stones awhile back. She's was defeated a little bit ago, though."

Golett looked back at the candle Pokémon with a blank expression. "Oh, that's right! Well whatever, I wasn't planning to go back there anyways. In any case, you guys haven't seen where a Heatmor with a scar over his eye and a tail that makes the air around him sear went, have you? I want to stay as far away from that monster as possible."

The three all looked at him with a confused look as he said this, recalling their encounter with the Pokémon he spoke of just a few minutes before. "We have, actually," Mienfoo said after a pause. "Why?"

Golett looked back at Mienfoo with a more serious, observant look before chuckling as he gave him a pat on the back and answered in an upbeat tone. "It's pretty scary actually. About half an hour ago I happened to be with a group of other contestants in the tunnels who were attempting to set up an ambush on the next person to turn a corner when it turned out to him. I barely blinked and three guys were already on the ground. The ones that were left all went crazy but he started annihilating them without even taking so much as a scratch. Needless to say, I ran like hell to get out of there before he got to me. I didn't want to run into him by accident so I've been hanging out to give him time to get what he came for and leave."

Again, the three all looked back at him in silence as they processed his words, until finally Joltik spoke up. "Well, he's gone now. We passed by him a bit ago while he was heading back to the surface."

Golett seemed relieved at this news and laughed as he turned to walk towards the stone bridge leading across the gap in the cavern to the temple. "Anyways, you guys are looking for Fire Stones, right? Well, this is the best place find them. There are chests with a lot of them stored inside in there. I guess the tournament planners wanted to give us the chance to explore the inside of a landmark like this when they placed them there. I already have some, but I'll stick around and give you the grand tour! Sound fun?"

"Uh, sure," Joltik replied as he moved to follow Golett along with the others over the bridge. The fact that there were no railings and that the bridge, which looked a parabolic slab of granite carved to connect the ledge to the temple, crossed over an extremely deep chasm in order to do so initially filled Mienfoo with uneasiness; though as he walked onto it he found it to be both quite sturdy and wide enough that even walking altogether there wouldn't be any risk of them accidently tripping and rolling off.

When they had finally crossed over the bridge, the group all found themselves staring up at the open doorway at the front of the large temple which Golett happily stepped through to enter. Inside, the group found themselves within a wide, circular foyer carved out of a majestic white marble and decorated with countless ancient carvings and statues; the most noticeable of which was a massive statue of a great, white feathered dragon with two legs, two wings, a long, slender neck, and an odd tail which resembled a turbine. There was something incredible about the appearance of this statue which made the group all drop their jaws in amazement as they studied it.

"That would be Reshiram, the God of Fire who this temple was built to honor," Golett told them as he noticed them staring at the statue. "Looks pretty nice, I know. Anyways, feel free to have a look around for a bit. It's not every day you get to explore a place like this."

Turning his attention away from the statue, Mienfoo moved his head to look around the foyer, and it suddenly dawned on him that they weren't the only ones there; a number of other contestants already inside were also looking around the temple, observing it as if it were a museum. He hadn't wandered far when he suddenly felt a tap on his back to see a group of three delinquent-looking Pokémon standing behind him with smirks on their faces.

"So, what's in the bag?" the one in the center, a chubby, red and black furred bipedal pig with yellow markings said as he stepped closer to grab the bag containing the helmets from Mienfoo, who jerked it away at the last second.

"Just some helmets we collected," Mienfoo answered honestly to the Pignite, who then laughed as he and the two Axew behind him cackled in support. "If you'd like I could tell you where we got them."

"No, that won't be necessary," the Pignite said with a smile on his face, "I actually needed one of those, but I'm in a rush so why don't we have a little spar over it? If I win, you'll have to hand one over, alright?"

Mienfoo stepped back to dodge in surprise as the Pignite moved forward to deliver a quick jab at him with his fist, with the two Axew standing behind him cheering him on with dark laughter. Finding it difficult to move accordingly with the sack over his shoulder, Mienfoo quickly dropped it before pivoting with his arms crossed over his stomach to block another strong punch to the gut that the Pignite was about to deliver. Bracing himself, Mienfoo prepared to take the blow; only to give off a confused look when it didn't come, with a greenish blue metallic hand extending between them to grab onto the pig's forearm from the side and stop the punch in mid-throw.

"Come on, guys," Golett said to the Pignite and his friends with an upbeat friendly tone as the pig struggled to free his fist and then stepped back in surprise upon succeeding. "This is a historical place, let's not rough house here. Besides, my friend here offered to tell you where you can get them, so there's no need to be mean, right?"

The Pignite glared at the Golett with a serious look for a moment before sighing and shaking his head. "Yeah, alright. You've got a point. Sorry about that, pal. Where'd you say you found them?"

Mienfoo paused for a moment in surprise before answering, with the Pignite and Axew quickly thanking him for the information before shaking his hand in a respectful manner and turning to depart through the large doors of the temple. In disbelief at their sudden change in demeanor, the Marsupial found himself staring at their backs as they left.

"Don't let those kind of guys get to you," Golett said, stifling laughter as he moved past the statue while motioning for Mienfoo as well as Joltik and Litwick who had been looking around the temple at the time, to follow him, "a lot of people are just hyped up with the spirit of competition and desperate to win, even if they're pretty decent kids normally. Now, about those Fire Stones."

Following Golett's lead, the group continued on into the next room of the temple where a number of chests containing piles and piles of Fire Stones had been placed by the tournament's organizers for the contestants who made it all the way there to collect. The group picked out a number of stones to stuff into Mienfoo's sack before moving back to the temple's foyer. Though they would have liked to stay and look around longer like they had at Queen's castle in Royal City, the group knew that they were still in the middle of the tournament and didn't want to keep their comrades who had gone in other directions waiting. After a few minutes, they had exited the temple and began to move back across the stone bridge over the deep chasm where they would reenter the tunnels that would take them back to the surface.

"You want to come with us?" Joltik asked as they noticed Golett walking not far from them and seemed to chuckle in response.

"Well, if you guys are heading back north to Centerton too, then I guess we're going in the same direction. I can stick around until we get there, then, if you don't mind."

"Not at all," Mienfoo replied happily, with Litwick quickly nodding her body in agreement. With their consent, Golett laughed as he continued forward to move alongside them as they began their journey back to Centerton, eager to quickly return and meet up with the others.

* * *

Pawniard, Elgyem, and Scraggy had followed the map onto a wide beaten trail leading southwest through the extremely rocky, sand-colored terrain which comprised the Rough Lands, quickly finding themselves blending into a small caravan of more than a dozen other contestants heading down the same path to the secluded village of Adelaar where they would be able to collect the Braviary Feathers they had been instructed to find for the scavenger hunt. Despite the number of young Pokémon present, a tense atmosphere seemed to be present among them as they hiked; the massive, tightly packed rocky hills towering over them on either side of the trail seeming to forebode an uncertain outcome.

Pawniard wasn't sure of how many of those present were fully aware of the details concerning the location they were heading to, such as the unpleasant reputation of its inhabitants, but, judging from the atmosphere within the group, it seemed that at least a few recognized this and were showing concern that they spread to those around them. After some time had passed, the Sharp Blade Pokémon began to grow more concerned as the feeling that they were being watched began to claw into the back of his mind, and the actions of others in the group as they looked around in uneasiness seemed to imply that they felt similarly.

"Up there!" a voice in the group called out, and everyone turned their heads upwards and to the side to see a large, brown feathered bird with a long, pink beak, and a red comb on its head perched atop the peak of a rocky hill which stood adjacent to the trail looking down at them with an observant glare. The group's uneasiness seemed to further intensify upon realizing that the bird was clearly an adult Pokémon, and strange white markings consisting of two looped circles which appeared to have been painted onto the feathers beneath its right eye made Pawniard, Elgyem and a couple others recognize it as a warrior of the Bird Tribe.

With a flap of its wings as they passed by it, the bird lifted itself into the air before turning to fly low over the trail ahead of them until it disappeared in the distance. A few minutes later, as they seemed to come closer and closer to their destination, the sight of several more large flying-types, each with similar white markings under their eyes denoting them as members of the Bird Tribe as well, flying overhead became visible.

At last, the trail turned one last sharp corner and the large group of contestants soon found themselves in the village of Adelaar. It was a strange, but oddly intriguing sight; seeming to be built within a decent-sized area where the Rough Land's trademark rocky hills were much less dense than normal, with as many as a dozen meters of flat ground spaced between any two of them to allow for a few wooden buildings to constructed in various places. Many of the hills that were present, however, seemed to have been hollowed into small caves at various points in order to accommodate nests that the tribe's members called home; from which a number of Bird Pokémon seemed to stare down at the new arrivals. In a way, the village and the atmosphere its inhabitants gave off seemed to be reminiscent of a rural desert town, save for being surrounded by a sea of stone hills as opposed to a flat plain. Furthermore, another aspect they recognized among the kinds of birds that the Bird Tribe seemed to be made of was that a number of them belonged to species that were not native to Uryus and would normally not be found elsewhere in the kingdom unless they were foreigners from other lands.

Before they had wandered far into the village, they all found themselves freezing in place as one such Pokémon swooped down to land in front of them; a large, short-beaked bird with powerful-looking talons, tan feathers on its back, a white underbelly, bright red plumage starting above its beak that curled around its head, and a tail consisting of a mixture of bright red and yellow feathers. Most noticeably, however, was that one of the Pokémon's eyes appeared to be missing as if having been clawed out in a fight.

"Hey kids," the large Pidgeotto spoke in a friendly, but strangely cool and confident-seeming tone as it perched itself in front of the group, "Welcome to Adelaar! My name is Pidgeotto Haliaetus; I am a warrior sworn to protect this and my tribe's other villages. We know why you have come here, and if you follow me to the center of the village you will receive what you seek."

As he finished speaking, the small crowd of young Pokémon began to slowly follow the bird as he walked across the ground to guide them through the village, with many of them quickly speaking up to bombard them with a multitude of questions about him and the Bird Tribe. Sticking in the back of the group, Pawniard found their blunt tones directed at a member of a foreign culture that had a history of conflict with the kingdom quite irritating; though Pidgeotto himself didn't seem to mind as he answered them in stride. Finally, the bird seemed to pick up on the uneasy feelings that some of the children, notably Elgyem and Pawniard, seemed to possess and laughed before speaking up to ease their minds.

"It is true that the Bird Tribe and Meloetta's kingdom have been at odds with one another for many generations, including a particularly violent series of conflicts around thirteen years ago spearheaded by our former chief, but both sides have since strived to improve these tensions over the last few years." Pidgeotto seemed to speak in a relaxed, informative tone to make it clear that they didn't have any reason to be concerned. "Particularly with Mandibuzz Viviair's dark reign ended, we've actually been on fairly good terms with the Queen, to the point where she entrusted one of our villages with overseeing this portion of her tournament."

Pawniard listened to Pideotto's explanation silently before shaking his head and sighing as he finished it. _'Yeah, I suppose that makes sense,'_ he told himself inwardly, scolding himself for his misplaced concern when he should have known that the Queen would never send them someplace so dangerous for the tournament.

"Do not mistake this for softness, however," Pidgeotto continued as they neared a large hill in the center of the village which contained a single wide and deep hole in the front a few meters off the ground and appeared to be decorated as if it were important, "the items you seek are only to be handed over to you should you be deemed worthy by our leader; a warrior of great strength who has guided our people with both powerful valiance and a heavy claw. Bow your heads, children, and show respect before the great Chief Braviary!"

As Pidgeotto finished, the group all heard a rustling begin to resound from the high up nest within the stone hill and a heavy atmosphere soon surrounded them as the feeling that something powerful both in strength and spirit was beginning to emerge. Even Pawniard found himself in a cold sweat as he focused his eyes intently on the powerful being that was appear.

"Rufflet!" a high-pitched chirp soon resounded from the hole, causing a number of the young Pokémon anticipating the chief's appearance to briefly trip over themselves in surprise as its owner, a tiny chick with fuzzy white feathers around its head suddenly popped out from beneath the edge of the hole and looked down at them with an excited, childish demeanor. One of the contestants seemed to begin speak up to voice his confusion, only to fall silent as another, far larger figure of a powerful looking eagle with red, white, and blue feathers across its body emerged behind the chick and glared down at them with an imposing, prideful stare.

"Welcome, children!" the eagle roared in a strong voice, flapping its wings to push a brief, but strong gust of wind blowing down at them. "I am Braviary Atlas, leader of the Bird Tribe! You have come here seeking items in order to pass this round of Meloetta's Tournament, but do not expect to take them half-heartedly. We of the bird tribe value strength, camaraderie, and courage above all else, and we believe that those who cannot display these qualities have no place in the tournament. Therefore, only those of you who are able to prove yourselves before me will be entrusted with one of the crest feathers we have prepared!" Speechless, the young contestants all stared up at the magnificent bird and the infant child in front of him with awestruck looks. As he finished, Chief Braviary lowered his voice while tightening his eyes to study them with an expectant look as if challenging them. "Now then, are you ready to begin?"

* * *

A sharp, repetitive tapping sound echoed through a small cave of a certain stone hill deep within the massive region that was the Rough Lands, created by a large clawed pink talon repeatedly drumming against the stone floor. The talon's owner, a large vulture with brown feathers and a bare pink head save for a large, ponytail-like tuft pierced through by a bone, stood in place with a cruel smirk slowly forming on her beak.

"I know that look," a strong, somewhat dark voice called out from behind as the shadowy Cofagrigus looked at her from deeper within the cave, "and I suggest you try to control yourself. We are to lay low until I receive a report from Weavile or Simidark. If the Queen's Knights were to become aware of your presence, who knows how they might respond. Not to mention how Bisharp will react if you slipped up."

"Worry not," the vulture replied, looking back at him with a manipulative but oddly gleeful look, "that won't happen. Maybe its boredom, but being back in this region for so long is just making feel a little… nostalgic, I suppose." With a sudden shift, the vulture turned her body towards the cave's exit and began to flap her wings to take off and emerge outside of it. "I think I'll just pay some old friends of mine a brief visit while we're waiting. It'll be quick."

Cofagrigus watched her depart with an uncaring look before turning his body back into the cave to look away dismissively. "Do as you wish."

* * *

The sound of moaning filled the air as the body of a heavily bruised and beaten young Pokémon struck the Centerton Forest floor, tears of fear and despair filling his eyes as he felt an arm grab him by the back and pull him up before striking him in the side of the head with a quick but powerful and merciless blunt strike that instantly rendered him unconscious. With that done, the rocky blue skinned, man-shaped Pokémon who had delivered the blow dropped him to the ground without a second thought or concern. Scattered across the forest floor were more than a dozen brutally beaten, unconscious young Pokémon with their attackers, three larger, somewhat more mature-seeming figures, standing over them each while giving off serious looks.

"That was the twelfth group," one of the figures, a large, draconic-looking teenage Pokémon with extremely rough red and blue skin and small wings on its back, said as it looked around at the devastation. "And yet none of them have even managed to make us sweat yet... I guess it shouldn't be surprising seeing as most of the contestants in the tournament are civilian children with little experience; unlike us who have been training to become soldiers since before we could walk. It kind of feels like bullying the weak, really."

Another of the three, a large buffalo-like Pokémon with a puffy dark afro atop its head and two horns each decorated with two golden circlets protruding from it, gave off a depressed expression as it looked around at the carnage. Hesitantly, the buffalo began to speak up, directing its voice towards the remaining figure. "Sawk… I know this is the path you have chosen, but… you should consider holding back a little more. Just a fraction of your strength is more than enough, and if you continue like this you might end up doing far more than just defeating-"

Silently, the blue Pokémon turned to give the buffalo a cold, emotionless, and yet somehow monstrous glare that caused him to cut his sentence short and shiver in place as their eyes met. Turning around completely, he moved to face them both before speaking in a calm and coldhearted, but assertive tone. "They are but stones in the river. Do not feel sorry for them; letting us cross it is their purpose. Weavile's strategy is proceeding nicely, but the progress could still be better. We will split up again, and go after different targets in order to hasten its completion. I will continue as I have been here in the forest, while the two of you will target the source locations directly. Druddigon, to the Jaku Flower Fields. Bouffalant, to Adelaar. Make haste, and show no mercy."

* * *

**A/N: Not much action in this chapter, though I do think that it's pretty important since a lot of things were brought up. A lot of it is to set up for the next chapter, but I wanted to include some information that expanded on the setting a little as well. Thanks for reading!**


End file.
